Grind
by Fencer22
Summary: Taylor gets the power to go into works of fiction and come out with new powers, pets, and items. This is my first fic. The quality and average post length improve as it progresses. I do not own Worm, or any of the other series referenced or quoted in this fic, I am making no money off of this.
1. 1-1

Grind 1.1

I walked into the Library. I only had another week left before I was supposed to go back to school. Just thinking about that made me cringe inside. I did not want to go back. I wanted to avoid it, at all costs.

Step one of avoiding thinking about it was easy, find something to read. I'd been stuck lately with nothing new to read or watch. I did not feel like rereading anything off my shelf and there was nothing really good on television. So here I was, walking through the shelves looking for something different.

"Looking for something in particular?" A woman asked.

I looked up to see one of the Librarians staring at me with a warm smile. "Yeah, kind of. I'm looking for something to take my mind of things, hopefully something fun. Any suggestions?"

The woman paused and thought for a moment. "Well there is this one Earth Alph series that a lot of the kids seem to enjoy. It's pretty popular actually. Follow me, and I'll see if we have a copy of the first one.

After checking one of the computers behind the checkout desk the Librarian led me to the young adult section. It was not my usual thing given that a lot of young adult novels were pointless romance, or violence for the sake of violence. But then that was a lot of fiction in general, and I had asked for something fun so maybe I would luck out. The Librarian scanned the shelf for a minute before grinning and pulling out a small paperback.

"Here, the first book in the series, A Spell for Chameleon." The Librarian said holding it out.

I gave the book a skeptical once over. It was certainly different than my normal choices, but I did need an escape. Finally I accepted it, and opened to the first page.

Then everything went wrong.

The book became fixed in space. I couldn't move it at all. Then I felt a tug from where I was touching the book before being hauled head first into the pages.

I came to in a dark space. In front of me was a wall of bright lights of various sizes with names and a one sentence blurb beneath each one. The brightest light read; Bink, main character.

Ok so I was somehow or other trapped in a book. One way or another something was painfully clear about this. There were cape powers involved. Probably not the Librarian. And there hadn't been anyone else around. So that really only left one option. I was a cape, with the power to insert myself into books. But that didn't really make any sense. Even the capes that didn't use their powers to fight could have. How did hiding from reality in novels lend itself to fighting?

I suppose there was probably something I was missing. However, given that I was trapped in a book at the moment I decided that the biggest problem was really getting out. Not how this could be used in a fight. I looked around. No obvious exits just the wall of lights. Realization downed on me. The only way out of the book was to get through it. "Shit." I said to no one in particular. "Well, if I'm going to be in a novel I might as well be the main character for once." I reached out and poked the big light that read Bink.

I sort of ignored the introduction scene in order to take in my surroundings, and be confused by the fact that what appeared to be the stories narrative was scrolling through my brain. It would advance only as my actions fallowed the narrative. The opening was something about a lizard getting eaten by a bird and essentially told the reader; this is foreshadowing, but it is very vague foreshadowing, so don't bother trying to interpret it.

As I read along in my head I screeched to a halt at the line; "Blink looked at the girl beside him as she stepped through a slanting sunbeam. He was no plant, but he too had needs, and even the most casual inspection of her made him aware of this."

I stopped reading along. I stopped paying attention. This was just not fair, it was just too freaking stupid to be real. "Oh fuck no, you have got to be kidding me!"

I was a GUY, in a book obviously catering to teen boys. How was something with a line like that, not even half way into the first chapter, supposed to be a young adult novel! It also explained why it was popular. It did not, unfortunately, explain why the Librarian thought I would have liked it.

I silently swore to myself that when I got out of this the first thing I was going to do was give the Librarian a piece of the mind. The second thing I was going to do was send the author a letter telling him he was writing to please a target audience and I hated him for it.

I took a minute to double check that there wasn't a way out of here before I sighed. I resumed the book and continued to read. I silently begged whatever terrible god had stuck me in here that the book would not go past innuendos and allusions.


	2. 1-2

Grind 1.2

It had been a long, long, long few hours. It seemed like every fifth line was fan service. Bink was sort of an idiot that much was obvious. He was also an outcast which I could relate to but it did not make up for how much of an idiot he was. It also didn't make up for how annoyed I was with the tone of the story in general.

Seriously, I had to grope a Centaur! And I was propositioned by a ridiculously powerful sorceress with the power to make illusions capable of fooling all my senses. Oh and the girl Bink fell in love with was some ridiculous bigoted personification of woman. The woman went through a cycle every 30 days. She went from beautiful, caring and stupid, to but ugly, brilliant and bitchy.

I mean really, who thought this was a good way to portray women! But whatever I knew what Bink's power was now. He had plot armor. That was it. His magic power was unstoppable plot armor which also covered people he cared about. I thought that was really lazy writing but at the same time I could not deny that it made a certain amount of sense. It was also kind of funny in an ironic sort of way.

It didn't really matter right now though because the end of the story was finally in sight. 'Charged with finding the source of magic blah blah blah. Enter the magic castle, blah blah blah. Bink gushes about his love interest Chameleon.' Oh please just let me out already. 'Cute funny moment where the girl answers the question Bink is too awkward to ask.' OH GOD SHE'S KISSING ME AGAIN! 'Finally an explanation about the blatant foreshadowing from the start of the book.' I'm done! I finished the story!

With a loud pop, I found myself flung back into the library and slammed face first into a guy my age in a white body suit covered in clocks.

Then all of a sudden I wasn't, and instead tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Uh, hi. Sorry about that you took me by surprise and I froze you on reflex. I'm Clockblocker." The white clad cape said offering me a hand up.

I groaned. "Are you here to make a sales pitch?"

Someone chuckled behind me. I turned around to see Assault standing with his arms crossed and a mischievous smile. Next to him was Battery.

"Well it's not often that we have a chance to talk with a Parahuman before they go out for the first time." Battery said as she leaned over to pick up the binder, which had fallen out of my bag, when I popped back into the universe.

Clockblocker tapped me on the shoulder. "So what should we call you, and I have to know, how was it? Being in the book I mean? I love that series."

I couldn't help myself. "I'm Taylor Hebert, and really?" I think I sounded rather incredulous but I couldn't help it.

Clockblocker rubbed at the back of his helmet. "Guilty pleasure," he mumbled "plus it's where I get inspiration for my jokes."

"Really?" I treated the teen hero to an exasperated stare.

"Taylor, this binder, have you shown it to anyone?" Battery asked.

I looked up and my blood froze in my veins. Battery was reading from my evidence binder. The cleaned up version that I had spent the earlier part of the day compiling and photocopying. I'd done it in the vague hope it might finally be enough to convince someone to believe me. Now Battery, the Battery, was reading it. I had wanted to get someone to listen, what better chance was I going to get than this? But why had she started reading it?

"Why are you reading that?" I asked panic clear in my voice.

"It fell open to the page describing an incident that put you in the hospital. If it's half as bad as it sounds then something should be done about it."Battery sounded cautious.

I really did not want to deal with this now. I had promised myself that once I had finished that binder I would not have to think about it until I went back to school. Now it was being thrown in my face by an honest to goodness hero. But it was still my best chance.

I nodded "I've complained a few times, but the office always told me there wasn't any evidence. So I started keeping a record with all the evidence I could. Do you think, maybe, you could help me?" My voice sounded pleading but I couldn't be bothered to care.

Battery was silent for a long moment. "Yes. Yes I think we can. You two behave yourselves. I need to go make a phone call. I think the director will want to hear about this." Battery stalked out of the room.

I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open, as I glanced between Clockblocker and Assault. They both seemed just as confused as I was.

"Sooooooo do you think you could take people with you?" Clockblocker asked.

"You really like the series that much?"

"Well kind of, but mostly I'm just thinking of the possibilities. There has to be more to your power then living out a book. But even if there isn't you could make a killing if you used the library as a theme park and put people into their favorite books."

Assault laughed at that. "Yeah, I can see it now Parahuman Vacations Inc. Bring book, cash, and be ready for a grand adventure." He spread his arms out dramatically.

I Chuckled. "We retain the right to deny your requested vacation spot on the grounds that it is Twilight."

Clocklblocker laughed. "Oh you are good. We could use more people with a sense of humor, and I know Vista would love to have another girl around." Making a not at all subtle sales pitch.

"Maybe," I deflected "this is all pretty overwhelming. I didn't even know I had powers until I picked up that book. And there isn't an exit. I had to read the whole thing through to the end. Actually how long was I in there?"

"About six hours, we're the third shift. We took over for Miss Militia and Vista about an hour ago." Assault answered. "Shadow Stalker and Velocity should actually be here soon since they were scheduled next."

"Six hours! Oh crap, Dad must be freaking out. Can I barrow one of your phones?"

"Here." Clockblocker handed me his phone.

"Thanks, I'm just going to step out while I make the call if that's alright?" The two capes nodded their assent so I headed out into the hallway.

As I typed in my home phone number a voice rang out. "What do you think you're doing here? This place is locked down due to a Parahuman incident earlier today." The speaker was a girl striking a menacing pose and Dressed in black with a stern looking mask. I figured that had to be Shadow Stalker.

"Ugh yeah that was me. I'm the Parahuman." I gave a little wave, after all there was no reason to be unfriendly. Right?

Shadow Stalker snorted. "Yeah, sure you are, and I ride a magical unicorn into fights. You're coming with me. Trespassing on a potential crime scene is illegal." She proceeded to grab me by the elbow and drag me out of the library, ignoring my protests.

As I was dragged toward a police car out front, our progress was interrupted.

"Shadow Stalker what do you think you're doing?" Asked Velocity who was standing off to the left with Battery. Wow I really was getting to meet a lot of capes today. "And when did you get inside? I've been waiting out here for the past ten minutes."

"I phased through the ceiling a couple minutes ago. This civi was pretending to be our new mystery cape. I'm escorting her to the police for trespassing on a potential crime scene."

Battery seemed to visibly twitch at Shadow Stalker's response. "Stalker, how exactly is accidentally being sucked into a book a crime? And you have about five seconds to unhand her because she was telling the truth."

Shadow Stalker gave me a look that I couldn't read from behind her mask. "Bullshit. You have to be kidding me."

"Stalker, I'm not going to ask you again. Let the girl go, right now. She hasn't done anything wrong and the Director wants you back at HQ, now."

Shadow Stalker tensed her grip on my arm actual becoming painful. "You know, don't you?"

Battery tensed. "Yes I do. Now let the girl go."

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked.

"You've broken you're probation, to a truly astonishing degree. You are going to be on shit duty for a long time. Probably a Smirguh attack sight manning the perimeter. Or maybe Alaska, would you like that more? Maybe try pulling some of your crap with a polar bear?"

Shadow stalker took a step back keeping me between herself and Battery. I didn't have the slightest clue what was going on, but it was starting to feel an awful lot like I was being taken hostage.

Shadow Stalker's foot caught on a chunk of broken asphalt as she backed up causing her to lose her balance, bringing us both to the ground. As we fell she went all ghostly and I took the chance to roll away. Stalker resumed her normal form still sprawled on the ground. "You bitch! This is all your fault!" She shouted.

Stalker leveled her crossbow at me from where she lay sprawled out on the ground and fired. I flung out my arm for whatever good it might do. I was surprised by sharp pain in my wrist. I honestly had not expected to stop the bolt from hitting me in the chest or face, but apparently I had. I opened my eyes expecting to see a dart embedded in my wrist.

Instead what I saw was the bolt embedded in Clockblocker's phone.

While I stared dumbfounded at the phone Battery and Velocity tazed and cuffed Shadow Stalker.

No way could this be possible. This was the kind of thing you saw in movies, or on t.v., or in a, in a book.

I had Bink's power... What else besides plot armor could explain that chain of events?

I, the unassuming nobody, had just been saved from personal harm by the power of plot armor! This was amazing! If I can get powers and stuff from living out books, then I was going to be a great hero!


	3. 1-3

Grind 1.3

Battery promised me she would explain the whole thing with Shadow Stalker trying to kill me once we got to the PRT headquarters.

Normally I wouldn't want to wait for that kind of an explanation, but after everything I was basically running on fumes. I'd found out I was a cape. I'd walked all over Xanth, avoiding death and magical traps. Then I came back to reality and had an actual hero tell me they were going to deal with the terrible trio! Then another cape took me hostage and tried to shoot me, only to be foiled by the blessedly bullshit power that is plot armor! Honestly tell me you wouldn't be tired after a day like that.

So back on track, I agreed to wait and tried to catch a quick nap during the ride over.

I woke up to Battery shaking my shoulder and giving me a warm smile. "We're here Taylor. You're Dad is waiting for you inside."

I yawned and stretched out my arms as I nodded. I fallowed her through the lobby and into a small conference room. My Dad was nervously tapping his foot against the floor as he stared at a wall. "Hi Dad."

"Taylor." my Dad rushed over to give me a hug. "I was so worried, why didn't you call me?"

Oh yeah after all the excitement with Shadow Stalker and getting plot armor, I had forgotten to call Dad. I turned to Battery. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

Battery gave me a small smile. "We thought you might want to be the one to tell him."

That got a grin out of me despite the exhaustion. "Hey Dad, you remember how I always wanted to be a cape?"

"Yes of cou... Wait, wait, are you saying?"

"Yup, surprise. I have super powers." My grin must have split my face.

The look on Dad's face was the funniest thing I had seen in months.

Dad took a deep breath. "OK, what's your power."

"Good question, so far all I know is I got sucked into a book and probably walked out with a new power."

Battery's head whipped around at that. I really wish she wasn't wearing a mask. Her expression must have been even better than Dad's. "What new power, are you sure?"

I wiggled my hand back and forth. "Not really but it makes sense. The main character from that dumb book had plot armor as his magic ability. I don't really know how else I could be lucky enough to catch a crossbow bolt on a cell phone."

"You did WHAT!" Oh right, Dad. Shit.

"Mr. Hebert, please, it was a tranquilizer bolt. Though your daughter makes a good point, stopping the bolt with her eyes closed is unlikely."

Dad took a deep breath. "OK, so you stopped a tranquilizer dart shot from a crossbow, with a cell phone. And you're attributing that to the power of plot armor, which you got from a book you were physically sucked into. That just leaves two questions. What kind of ridiculous power is that, and why was someone shooting at you?" Huh, Dad was taking this a lot better than I had expected. Maybe he would fall apart later when it all sank in.

"I don't know, Battery?"

Battery looked nervously between us before sighing. "I wouldn't even hazard a guess about your powers. As for Shadow Stalkers actions, the director wants to explain that personally."

Battery started dipping her head as she spoke. It was strange seeing such an important hero acting so nervous. But whatever it was, I'm sure it couldn't be that bad, right?

"OK then that's fine, I guess."

Battery nodded and led us to another office. The secretary outside the door waved us in.

The director was a very fat woman in a cheap suit. But what stuck out most right now was how very tired she looked. "Mr. Hebert, Miss Hebert. Please, have a seat."

As we sat she slid a pair of matching legal documents across her desk to us. "I'm Director Piggot. First let me say that I am deeply sorry. The Protectorate has failed you rather spectacularly I'm afraid. There are a great many things we need to discuss at length. Unfortunately I am legally required to have you sign these non disclosure agreements before we can proceed any further."

I shrugged and made to pick up the pen. Dad placed his hand on top of mine and gently pushed it back down onto the table. "I'm going to need a few minutes to read this over." Oh yeah, I guess that made sense even if they were the good guys I suppose you should always read a legal document before signing.

"Of course." Director Piggot replied, nodding as she leaned back into her chair.

After a few minutes, in which I did my best not to doze off, Dad finally spoke up. "This form is to prevent us from disclosing the civilian identity of a cape. Neither of us knows any capes civilian identity, so why are you giving us these?"

"Part of what we need to discuss involves the civilian identity of one of our capes. I'm afraid that's all I can say until after you both sign."

"We aren't going to like what you have to say." Dad made it a statement instead of a question.

"No, you won't."

Dad nodded. "Is there any reason why we shouldn't just walk away right now?"

Piggot looked at the ceiling like she expected to find an answer there. "Because we can help your daughter learn about her power." She paused gathering her thoughts. "We would like to develop a working relationship with your daughter. However, lying, even by omission, is a very bad way to start any kind of relationship. I won't proceed with that working relationship until we have cleared the air and appropriately apologized for our failings. Unfortunately I am legally obligated to have you sign those documents before I can do so."

Dad looks at me obviously asking what I thought. I shrug, what is there to say. I could probably use some help figuring this stuff out. Besides she worked with the heroes, and she was trying to apologize for whatever it was she thought she had done.

How bad could it be?

I picked up the pen and signed. Dad hesitated for a second before fallowing my lead.

Director Piggot seamed grimly determined. "Thank you. Miss Hebert, when Battery picked up your evidence binder this evening she noticed a name connected to us."

There was a hero at Winslow, and they never helped me? They had maybe even participated? Was it one of the Jocks or, no, no they meant Shadow Stalker. That was why she was so aggressive towards me. She must be one of the trio's tag along girls. After all I knew full well how scary those three could be. It shouldn't really surprise me that they could cow a hero.

"You mean Shadow Stalker right?" Piggot nodded, "Well I can't say I would like working with one of their errand girls. But if anyone knows how scary those three are it's me. I couldn't really blame anyone for being too afraid of Emma, Sophia and Madison to help me. I mean she's a hero, she must have wanted to help me right?"

"Wait Emma, Emma Barnes!" Oh right I hadn't told Dad, shit. "And what's this about an evidence journal."

"Dad, maybe now isn't the best time." Dad gave me a very hard look before finally nodding. I could tell from how tightly he gripped the desk that this was not over yet.

The Director seemed to be struggling with something. "Miss Hebert I can assure you that you will never have to work with Shadow Stalker. She has violated the terms of her probation and is going to spend the next two years serving in Alaska." That caught me by surprise. It must be because she tried to shoot me. "Regretfully I have to inform you that Shadow Stalker wasn't a, as you say, errand girl. Her civilian name is Sophia Hess."

I couldn't really think. I felt like the whole world was spinning around me. This didn't make any sense. Sophia, a hero. I needed to get away from this.

"Excuse me. I think I need to go." I got shakily to my feet before bolting out of the room. I didn't really care where I ended up. I just wanted to be somewhere else, someone else. Anything had to be better than this.


	4. 1-4

Grind 1.4

Once I got out onto the street I couldn't quite figure out what to do next. I sure as hell wasn't about to go back inside. God I was such an idiot. All the pieces were right in front of me, and I just ignored them!

"Taylor!" I recognized the voice from earlier. I turned around, sure enough there was Clockblocker waving me down like he was trying get the bus to stop.

I stopped running but beyond that I was not really sure what to do. I still wanted to get away from here, but beyond that...

"Hey, what's wrong? You could have given Velocity a close race just now. Why the rush?"

"Because they let it happen." I choked out, waving an arm at the PRT building.

"Let what happen?"

"The Locker." I gripped my shoulders, hugging myself.

I don't know if he knew or if my tone gave away just how bad it had been. But that seemed to make him tense up. "Then they fucked up, badly. I won't pry but I'm willing to bet it was bad, and if they let it happen then they made a huge mistake. Maybe an unforgivable one, but running through the city at night, alone, is a recipe for disaster. So please just, just let me grab one of the PRT guys and we'll give you a ride home."

He was right. I didn't, maybe couldn't trust them. But he was right, and it would get me home faster. I nodded keeping my head down.

I stayed there for almost 10 minutes kicking at the ground before a thin red headed boy ran up to me. He stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, my name's Dennis, and I like clocks!" and then he winked.

"I, you, isn't that a big deal?! You're not supposed to go telling me that." I hissed at him.

Dennis chuckled. "You're right I'm not. Piggy will probably through a fit when she finds out."

"So why the heck did you do it?"

"Because I don't want you lumping me in along with management. You seem cool, more importantly you seem like you could use a friend. Unless of course you're one of those anti ginger racists. Because then we'll have to have an epic battle to the death."

"There are people that hate red heads?"

"Yup, South Park. Ever since their day walker episode I've had to listen to idiots make the ginger's have no soul joke. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it was funny, but it doesn't even make sense! Besides the joke was old before the episode was even over, and yet still people use it." Dennis shook his head in a what can you do sort of way.

I may have smiled, a little. He wasn't really being funny but at least he was upbeat.

That only seemed to egg Dennis on, "The E88 aren't quite sure what to do with us red heads either, you know? I mean gingers are white, and we have blue eyes, but then they get to our hair. It's like someone lit the straw that's supposed to grow out of our heads on fire. It's really confusing for their tiny Nazi brains."

I giggled. Ok so maybe he was a little bit funny.

"Ha! See, I knew I liked you for a reason. You're the first cape other than Assault who appreciates my killer sense of humor."

A PRT van pulled up on the street in front of us. Dennis opened the back door with a flourish. "Your chariot awaits mademoiselle"

I smiled. Well I guess at least some of the local heroes were alright. Dennis piled in after me.

"Well since I have a captive audience for once, have you ever heard the one about the blond and the sheep herder?"

"No…?"

Dennis grinned, "Good it's one of my best jokes. So there's this blond woman, works in an office in England, right?"

"Sure." I'm not usually one for blond jokes, but he seems really excited to have someone willing to listen for once, I can't really bring myself stop him.

"Right well this woman is the but of everyone's jokes people won't stop calling her the office blond stuff like that. So she goes to the boss says she's sick of it and she's taking a two week vacation. Get her hair dyed, trade in for a new car, go see Scotland and come back as basically a different person. Her boss says fine so off she goes to Scotland with her hair dyed brown."

I nodded along, so far I felt a little sorry for the woman. Being picked on sucked.

"So the woman is driving through Scotland when all of a sudden she has to stop for a flock of sheep crossing the road. It's obviously going to take awhile for them all to cross so she rolls her window down to talk to the Sheppard standing by the side of the road. The man apologizes and tells her it's going to be about a half hour before the road is clear. The woman says that's fine and she compliments him on how fluffy and adorable the sheep are. She asks if she can guess how many are in the flock if he'll let her have one. The man is pretty amused by the idea so he agrees. She takes her time thinks it out and she finally guesses, 3,568 sheep she says. The man gets real quite for a minute before he finally says 'Lady, you're off by three. But you know what that's close enough. Go ahead and pick out a sheep.' The woman is ecstatic and she immediately picks up one of the adorable white fluffy animals and loads it into the back seat of her car. Then she settles in to wait for the rest of the flock to pass."

I'm starting to wonder where exactly this joke is going because so far it just sounds like a goofy story.

Dennis seems to catch on to my train of thought as he holds up his hands he says; "Don't worry I'm almost to the punch line." I nod and wave him on.

"So about a minute later the man walks over and knocks on the car window. The woman rolls it down and says, 'what's wrong I thought you said I could pick one out?' the man nods his head and says 'Yup but how about this? If I can guess what color you're hair is, will you give me my dog back?" Dennis finishes the joke with a wide expectant grin.

The PRT trooper driving the car snorts and I can't help but giggle a little bit at Dennis's story.

That set the tone for the rest of the ride back to my house Dennis telling jokes. Some of them funny, some of them not, but all of them goofy. It was, nice.

I waved goodbye from the front porch as Dennis and the PRT trooper drove off, before heading towards my room. Dennis was nice, and I appreciated the ride. But now I had a super power to experiment with, and I think I new what I wanted my next stop to be.

{}{}{}{}

Denis.

"So you mind telling me why I had to dress up like a PRT trooper and grab a truck to drive you and the new cape half way across town now?" Ethan asked.

"I saw her running out of the building like it was on fire, so I chased after her. She said something about how they let it happen. She mentioned a locker. I don't know what it was but it must have been pretty bad from the way she sounded. You were the only person I could think of that would be up for something Piggy probably wouldn't approve of like this. So I called you to get the car. called Piggot to tell her I was arranging to get Taylor home safe, and believe it or not she actually thanked me!"

Ethan whistled, "No shit?"

"Yeah I know right? Apparently Taylor's Dad and the director had a lot of stuff to talk about. From the sound of things her Dad was split between wanting to rip the place apart, wanting to chase after Taylor, and wanting to make sure he got Taylor some kind of immediate benefits before they would even consider the Wards program. I don't think I've ever heard Piggot that off balance before."

They drove in silence for awhile after that.

"Dennis."

"Yeah."

"If Taylor's Dad can win an argument with the Director like you're saying he can, you had better be very careful not to hurt Taylor."

"I, what? Damn it man!"

Ethan just laughed.


	5. 1-5

Grind 1.5 For Want of Companions

I made my way up to my room. The Protectorate may have failed me but Dennis was nice. Battery and Assault had seemed like good people too. But what I needed now was more friends, and more practice with my power. I had to know what else I was capable of.

I already suspected I could bring back the powers of people that I acted out in the stories. But could I bring physical items out of the stories? What about animals? Did I have to enter every book I touched? Did my power work on things that aren't books? There was only one way to find out. Testing. Lots and lots of testing, but where to start.

The obvious starting point would have to be the little bookshelf in my room. Still I had to choose carefully or I could end up in another crappy situation.

As I scanned the shelves one book in particular caught my eye. A half remembered story about a girl that made friends with a small flock of tiny dragons. "Dragonsong." For months after I had daydreamed about having a tiny flock of winged friends all my own. Now maybe I could. I grinned something fierce grabbing the book off the shelf and opening to the first page.

Again the black space and the wall of annotated lights. I found the brightest one, the one labeled Menolly and touched it.

 _Drummer, beat, and piper, blow_

 _Harper, strike, and soldier, go_

 _Free the flame and sear the grasses_

 _Til the dawning Red Star passes._

Oh right, this series started off each chapter with a little snippet of poetry or a rime. Why didn't more stories do that? It was such a classy thing to do.

{}{}{}{}

So this time I was actually a girl which was a good start. Unfortunately this particular girl had zero friends and emotionally if not physically abusive parents. How the hell did I forget something like that?! The Dad beat me! With a belt! For something completely stupid! Fucking asshole! Was there some universal law that stated the protagonist's life had to start off shitty in order for a book to be good?

Luckily I was out of "the hold" within what felt like a couple of hours. Not so great was the fact that my hand got sliced up first. But since Bink had been missing a finger and that hadn't carried over I wasn't worried.

Interesting thing was that I could actually relate a lot better to this girl. It felt right. I definitely seemed to be more emotionally invested in this book. I noticed my emotions mirroring hers. That was new and interesting.

But enough thinking! This was the moment I had been waiting for, that hatching of the little fire lizards! I clawed my way into their cave to escape threadfall. Threadfall being the unimaginative term for the deadly rain of all consuming organic string.

So here I was in the little cave of the fire lizards as they hummed to their hatching eggs. I had to feed the new hatchlings crabs too stop them from flying out into the deadly silver rain in search of food.

It felt great to save the beautiful little creatures. And as time passed I got to know the little wonders. I became truly attached to them. It was interesting, being in a book that I was coming to enjoy a great deal. I felt less of a need to rush through. When the book started to obviously hint at time skips I took the time to enjoy the freedom the more vague script allowed me. I would talk with the fire lizards for what felt like hours. I enjoyed their company and attentive listening.

I told them about the trio and Winslow. That always got them angry and agitated. They would project images of scratching at the trio and breathing fire down on their necks. It always made me feel better.

When I oiled their hides they would literally shower me with feelings of love and adoration.

Talking about Dad and my new friend Dennis always managed to elicit curious chirps and inquiring head tilts.

Best of all was going to sleep at night surrounded by my new friends. They were not the most intelligent creatures but they were certainly as smart, if not smarter than any dog I had ever met. And they were twice as responsive. The week mental link we shared made them attentive and loving companions.

There were quite a few portions of the book that had nothing to do with me. These dragged on as I found myself constantly distracted from reading the text in my head by my adorable new companions. I slowly worked my way through the book, taking my time and savoring the adventure.

{}{}{}{}

I just had to let my guard down! I cursed as I ran, quick as I could, trying to stay ahead of the thread raining down out of the sky. It was a bit like trying to outrun a rainstorm, if rainstorms could kill you. Somehow I was managing it, so far.

Then a shadow passed over my head. "Shit!" I tumbled to the ground fully expecting to get eaten by the least threatening, looking, plague I had ever heard of. Instead I looked up and saw a brown Dragon and its rider yelling at me to get on. I jumped right up onto the dragons back. I liked this plan a lot more than running.

The man was speaking to me again. "And don't be afraid. I'm to take you _between_ to Bendon."

Between, as in step outside the universe for teleportation between?

"Crap."

It was almost like sensory deprivation. Except for the cold, I had never felt so cold in my entire life. It only lasted a second and then we were out again. Winging our way into the Dragon weyr. Huh, where the heck did the author come up with the word weyr? And oh shit I ran the skin off my feet. That was bad.

{}{}{}{}

One of the dragon riders and I took off to pick up a clutch of fire lizard eggs. It didn't seem like a big deal or anything but when we got back there was a crowd of people who were showering me, or Menolly, with praise and attention. I know it is part of the book. I know it doesn't really mean anything, but I can't help but feel overwhelmed. It's so nice feeling wanted.

{}{}{}{}

Watching dragon eggs hatch had been amazing. However, I was glad for the chance to catch my breath now. I sat in the corner of the kitchen tending the fire lizard eggs and nibbling on bread and meat. It was nice to have a break from the excitement of the story. I had a feeling we were reaching the end of the book anyway. Yup there it was Menolly is tricked into humming her own song and gets to go and be harper, like she always wanted. I can't help but smile for her. If she can be what she always wanted then maybe I can too.

{}{}{}{}

I stretch out my arms and look around my room. There, sitting on my bed, are three of Menolly's nine fire lizards! Beauty, Rocky and Diver all looking around my room with interest. "Yes, it worked!" I crowed my victorious success. "Come here you three. Lets go get you some food." The three little lizards crowed with joy and started to sweep and dive around me.

"TAYLOR!" Oh crap. Dad did not sound happy. The door burst open and Dad swept me up into a hug. "Taylor, what were you thinking? You've been gone almost a week! And I've been, Oww! What the hell are those things?! And why are they clawing me?!" My fire lizards were startled and taking it out on poor Dad.

"Stop that right now you three, leave Dad alone! And, wait; did you just say a week?" Oh crap. I was in trouble.


	6. 1-6

Grind 1.6

My Dad is great. While I took a week long vacation to pick up my new friends Dad had been busy negotiating with the PRT. He got me transferred to Arcadia, and Sophia was on her way to Alaska. I would have preferred to have Emma and Madison tossed in jail, but I was happy enough just to be getting away from them. Besides from the sound of things Principal Blackwell wouldn't be long for her position either.

Despite the good news I had a hard time feeling really happy about any of it. Not that I wasn't happy it's just facing my first day at a new school had me terrified. Everyone said Arcadia was infinitely better than Winslow. Everyone knew it was at least partly because the wards went to school there. Nobody wanted to piss off a super hero. So everyone was supposed to be respectful.

That didn't really do anything to calm my nerves though. Not when I thought about who Sophia had turned out to be. I could not stop worrying. Making matters worse Dad had confiscated all my books. Normally I could get through even the worst days, so long as I could lose myself in a good book. Given that the expression was now rather literal for me Dad refused to budge on the matter. It made sense, but I still hated it. I also could not take my fire lizards with me. That sucked even more. I had spent a week, apparently, getting to know them. Now they had to stay at home for secrecies sake. Beauty had almost refused to stay home, at least until I fed her half a pack of hot dogs and she slipped contentedly into a cat nap.

Fire lizards make great pets, but they have huge appetites. I really need to figure out a way to make some money for food. That or they are going to have to start hunting for crabs in the bay. They would probably enjoy that come to think of it. But I would need some kind of costume or else have to stay clear while they were out and about. Fire lizards are not particularly dangerous but they would scream new cape to anyone paying attention. I really did not need that kind of scrutiny from any of the gangs or cape geeks.

Thoughts about my new friends were cut off as Dad pulled up in front of Arcadia. I'd wanted to take the bus but Dad had insisted on bringing me in for my first day. "Have a great day kiddo. And remember stay away from the Library and the English classes."

I nodded and waved him off. "Sure Dad. See you tonight."

{}{}{}{}

So far my first day was going alright. I was something like the center of attention in all my classes. Unfortunately transferring into Arcadia during the middle of the school year made everyone think I was a new cape joining the wards. The worst part is they were half right, and I had to try and hide it. That made things very awkward. At least until Dennis grabbed me by the shoulders at lunch and steered me toward an empty table. That made things easily twice as awkward.

"Dennis, what are you doing?"

"You looked lost. So I thought I'd invite you to sit with me and my friends."

"Dennis we're the only ones sitting at this table."

Dennis waved his hand dismissively. "Ehh they're always late to lunch, bunch of slowpokes honestly."

"Right, well thanks, I guess." I glance around making sure nobody is listening in. "Everyone thinks I'm a cape. Or that I'm here to draw attention from a new cape that's attending some other school. Or they have some other crazy theory. How the heck do you guys not end up outed?"

Dennis Chuckled. "Mostly by keeping our heads down and acting normal. Everyone knows there are capes here. But there are just about a thousand students here. Besides half of the cape geeks think the idea that the Wards attend here is a PRT smokescreen. They think the real Wards are spread out across the other schools in the city."

Huh, that actually made sense. "Umm why aren't they?"

Dennis shrugged. "Don't know, logistics I guess."

I nodded that made as much sense as anything else.

"Look me and some friends from work would like to apologize to you for what the bitch did to you." Dennis sounded uncharacteristically serious. "We worked with her, we knew she was a bitch, but we never realized how bad she was. We all want to apologize to you."

"I, but that would mean?"

"Yup," Dennis nodded solemnly, "after we got briefed on what happened we talked it out and everyone agreed that it was for the best. Also the boss sort of slipped one past your Dad. That stuff you signed applies to all of us." Well that explained that at least, Dad was going to be pissed he missed that.

I felt that old familiar fear that had been just at the edge of my mind all day start to soak back into the forefront. "You guys know, about,"

Dennis cut me off. "We know the broad strokes. I'm not prying and none of the others will either. My, boss, thought we should at least know the basics of what happened and gave us a rundown."

I nodded I wasn't really happy with this situation, but I guess it wasn't fair to blame everyone for Sophia's actions. I gave Dennis a cautious nod. He responded with a pained smile.

"Great how does Fugly Bob's around six sound, it's on us?"

"OK." I was not a huge fan of Fugly Bob's but I didn't hate it either. It couldn't hurt to hear them out at least.

Dennis nodded before turning around to scan the crowd. He waved at a couple working their way through the crowd. They made their way over to join us. "Taylor meet Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill meet Taylor."

"Wait, your names are?"

"Yes." They cut me off speaking at the same time.

"Are you two a couple?"

"Yes." Again they were speaking in sync, though this time with more warmth.

Jack was a tall thin and blond. Jill was about a head shorter than Jack and Brunet.

"So you're the new girl right?" Jack asked. "So when's your Wards debut, and what's your power. Come on, you can tell us." He said with a wink.

"Jack leave her alone." Jill elbowed her boyfriend. "Sorry, he's a bit a cape geek. It's nice to meet you. But how do you and Dennis know each other?"

"Oh I met Taylor a week ago. She was out way past dark and I offered to walk her back home." Dennis supplied before I could get together a story in my head. I guess he had a lot of practice with lying to protect his identity.

"Oh that's cool, but seriously, why the late transfer?" Jack directed the question at me.

"Winslow. They umm let a lot of stuff happen. It was bad. I got a transfer here to help keep it quite."

"Wow. What did happen?"

"Jack..." Dennis tone made it clear he thought his friend should let it drop. I was grateful for that but still felt like I should answer.

"I umm, I'd rather not talk about it."

Jack seemed curious still but Jill got the message. "That's fine, none of our business anyway." She gave me an encouraging smile. I hesitantly returned it with one of my own.

Jack nodded thoughtfully before striking up a conversation with Dennis about an upcoming basketball game.

I spent most of my lunch quietly eating. Despite that it felt really good to be able to sit with people at lunch and not keep a constant eye out for the terrible trio.

As I waved goodbye I realized I'd get to do this again tonight. Yes, it would be with a different group of people. Yes, I wasn't really sure how much I could trust them. If they were anything like Dennis or Jack and Jill though I figured I could cope. With that thought in my head I moved on to my next class a very tiny smile tugging at my lips.


	7. 1-7

Grind 1.7

I must have stood outside Fugly Bob's for a good five minutes before I worked up the courage to go inside. I spotted Dennis sitting at a large booth in an empty corner. Wait, how was an entire corner of Fugly Bob's empty? I put the question aside as I made my way over to their booth and slid into the corner seat opposite Dennis and next to a young girl. I slipped my backpack gently down onto the floor between my feet.

"Taylor, glad you came." Dennis gave me a big smile. "I'll let everyone introduce themselves." Dennis gestured to the boy sitting next to him.

"Carlos, or Aegis in costume."

"Chris A.K.A. Kid Win."

"Gallant but please, call me Dean."

"And I'm Vista, my civilian name is Missy."

"Umm hi, I'm Taylor, but I guess you all knew that already?"

Carlos nodded. "You're not wrong. But onto why we're here. We knew Sophia had issues. None of us realized how bad she was, even though we dealt with her more than anyone else. If we had made more of an effort, or paid closer attention or something maybe we could have..."

Carlos was rambling and I was all too familiar with this sort of train of thought. Well not the, what could I have done better, kind. Mine were more just chains of depressing thoughts. It felt wrong to let a hero beat himself up over what Sophia had done. I was just glad he didn't seem to be like Sophia.

"I, umm. It's not your fault. Dad explained it to me. The school kept everything she was doing quiet so they could have a Ward around to help keep the gangs in check. I… She was smart enough to not get caught."

Carlos nodded but he still looked guilty. So did the other Wards too. I felt, a little bit justified, they should feel bad that it happened under their noses. Mostly though, I just felt relieved. Sophia really did seem to be the anomaly in the Wards.

We stayed quiet like that for a few minutes before I had an idea. "I know Dennis said you guys were paying, would you mind if I order two burgers? I could show you something cool if I do." I hoped the smile on my face would grab their interest. Judging by the curious expressions it did.

Dean nodded "Sure an extra burger isn't really a big deal."

Missy seemed more curious than the others. "Why do you need an extra burger to show us something?"

"Because it's dinner time, and she insisted on coming with me."

"She?" Dennis asked.

I grinned they were going to think I was crazy. "Yep. I made a new friend last week and brought her with me."

OK now it was worth coming here tonight. Their faces were great. Except for Dean, he seemed amused. Why wasn't he, oh right. Duh, Empath. He could probably sense Beauty sitting in my backpack. Oh well, at least I'd have one over on the others. Just then the waitress came by to take our orders. Dennis Missy and I all ordered the CluckBlocker, Fugly Bob's only chicken sandwich. The others all ordered HalBurgers plus an extra for Beauty, as promised.

Missy was trying to explain to me how space warping worked when the waitress arrived with our food. The 'is she crazy' looks had been toned down a notch while we waited. Now that the extra burger was on the table those looks ratcheted right back up as I got rid of the bun and sliced the patty into bite sized pieces. I took my fork and speared one before handing it off to Missy.

"Now don't freak out, and try to be quiet." I reached under the table and unzipped my backpack all the way letting Beauty climb up my leg and into Missy's Lap. I turned facing Missy with my whole body to block Beauty from view. "Missy, meet Beauty, she's one of my fire Lizards. She is basically a little empathic, teleporting dragon." The look on Missy's face was great. Like Christmas had just come early. "Try giving her some of the burger, she loves meat." Missy rather numbly proffered the chunk of burger to my little golden friend. Beauty cocked her head inquiringly at it before snatching it off the fork and making a happy little gurgling noise.

Missy looked up at me with the most compelling puppy dog eye's I have ever seen. "Can I have one, please?"

"Sorry, they're pretty attached to me. Maybe if she ever lays a clu…." The words died in my throat and I groaned. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Beauty chirped at me, and flared her wings.

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong." I assured Beauty, as I clutched my head in my hands.

"Ugh Taylor, what's wrong?" Chris asked.

"I just realized I need to find a doctor that can neuter a tiny dragon capable of teleporting. Because if I don't when she has her first mating flight I'll end up throwing myself at the closest guy. Dad is going to kill me."

"OK I'll bite. How the heck does that work?" Dennis asked, fighting a smirk.

"Taylor, you said they're empathic right? Are they linked to you?" Dean asked.

"Yeah they're linked to me. I feel what they feel to a limited degree. I hadn't even thought about it, but the other books in the series laid it out there pretty plainly. Shit. Why didn't I remember this sooner? Stupid power, it's such a double edged sword."

I started in on my food hopping it would be a decent distraction to the fact that I now had to find a dragon veterinarian. Vista went back to feeding Beauty and scratching along her neck.

"So what do you mean about your power being a double edged sword?" Dean asked.

I took the time to finish chewing and swallow. "Well, I have to go through the whole book. To get Beauty and my other two fire lizards I got beat with a belt, sliced open my hand, and ran all the skin off my feet. Now unless I'm wrong I also need to get them neutered before I'm forced to jump in bed with someone. So I get cool powers, and creatures from stuff, but depending on the book I have to go through a lot of crap for the end result."

I took another bite of my sandwich. Apparently I had surprised everyone because for a few minutes no one said anything. "You went through all that for three mini dragons?" Chris asked. He sounded kind of incredulous. Not that I could really blame him.

"I ugh, kind of forgot all that stuff happened in the book. I just remembered wishing I had fire lizards like the main character."

"Makes sense," Missy said, "they're the only thing I would remember."

I nodded. "The other downside is I can't read anymore. I haven't really been able to work out much of anything about my power, but I spent a week in Beauty's book. My Dad's afraid to let me experiment more with my power. He doesn't want me missing school. I don't really know what to do with myself anymore. I never realized how much time I spent reading, until I couldn't anymore."

Chris looked thoughtful. "Hey Taylor, have you ever tried any video games?"

"No, not really why?"

"Well they're not exactly books, but they can be a good distraction, here." Chris slid a handheld device across the table to me.

"That's something I whipped up in my spare time. It looks like the latest handheld game system but inside its all tinker tech. Dennis has one too. They're loaded out with a bunch of the most popular games from several systems. Why don't you take that one? Should help fill the free time"

"I, I can have this?"

"Sure. I still have the blueprints. Only take me a couple hours to whip up a new one anyway."

"You should start with something simple, try Mario." Dennis chimed in.

"Thanks." My voice was coming out a whisper now. I hadn't known what to expect when I came here but it hadn't been a possible solution to my need for distractions.

The rest of dinner went bye in a blur of pleasant conversation. The Wards never tried to give me a sales pitch. Missy pouted when I ushered Beauty into my backpack so I could leave. "Thanks for dinner, and the game. This was really nice."

I got a chorus of agreement from the wards before heading home. It really had been a good day.

{}{}{}{}

I flopped down onto my bed. Rocky, Diver and Beauty arranged themselves around me. They rested their heads on my arms and stomach. They cooed contentedly, making me smile as I scratched behind their eye ridges.

I picked up the game system Chris had given me and turned it on. What greeted me was a long list of options. I scrolled through them for awhile before I found the game Dennis had suggested. Super Mario Bros, I clicked play, and found myself in the black room.

"Fuck."


	8. 1-8

Grind 1.8 Multiple perspective interlude

Beauty

Bed gone, room gone, between? No. Confusion. Lights, lines, curves? Curious.

Taylor; Mad Sad Confused.

"Chirp." Comfort. Reassurance, Brave!

Taylor smiles. Warmth, Happy, Glad!

Taylor picks me up. Scratches above eye! Happy, Affection, Love!

Taylor points to a light. Wants me, go, touch? I do.

Pink cloth cover thing. Human arms/legs. Confusion.

Room gone. Taylor gone. Wings gone! Fear, Panic, Terror! Help! Help! Help!

{}{}{}{}

Danny

It had been a long day. Taylor had called to tell me she was going to meet with the Wards. Apparently they wanted to apologize. I was worried, but I trusted her judgment. That didn't mean that I trusted the Wards. After all, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Taylor had scooted up to her room pretty quickly once she got home. I hadn't really gotten a chance to ask how her day went.

I had been making that mistake for two years. I was not about to repeat it. I would make her tell me everything about her day.

I knocked on her door. "Taylor, you mind if I come in?" No response. Could she be asleep? No the light was on. Hmm. "Taylor I'm coming in." I opened the door.

Taylor and her pet dragons were gone. But there, hovering over her bed, was some kind of game system. "Damn it Taylor!" I leaned over and surprise, surprise there on the little screen was Mario stomping Goombas.

Piggot's warning was ringing in my ears. She said Taylor would have to be careful. Her power was a wildcard. Without knowing its limits she could be anything she wanted. For now Taylor wasn't a threat but Piggot had made it very clear. If Taylor picked up abilities she could not control, she could be the next Nilbog or Endbringer.

The Director wanted Taylor locked away where her power could be tested and cultivated. She wanted to use Taylor like a weapon. I had no doubt she would do so if given half a chance. I thought taking away her books would be enough to prevent that. Clearly I was wrong, Taylor, or her power, would find a way around my restrictions it seemed. I could tell her the risks. I could take away the games and T.V. but then what? Would she rebel? Would she cave in on herself? I didn't know what to do.

"How am I supposed to protect you from this?"

{}{}{}{}

Dragon

The Day was winding down. I had already completed my routine checks. I was well into the arduous task of reading through the paper work on new capes. The Yangban were suspected of having a new cape with some sort of changer ability. Denver Wards had a new Tinker they caught flying a strange contraption that had passed mach one. They were apparently very excited about his potential given that it had been made on a shoestring budget. The engine had actually been held together with duct tape and paperclips. I would have to keep an eye on that one's work. Maybe throw him some of my older thruster designs to see what he did with them.

Ah an update on the new cape out of Brockton Bay.

Name: Taylor Hebert

Age:15

Cape Name: N/A

Temporary Designation: SI (self insert)

Power Designation: Striker 1 Trump 8

Power Description: SI's power appears to be the ability to insert herself into fictional books. It seems to activate automatically and is out of her control. Originally it was assumed to be any book. This theory was disproved after her father reported that SI had been seen reading a math textbook earlier that day. In the incident which led to her being exposed SI stopped a crossbow bolt at near point blank range with a cell phone. This has been theorized as the result of gaining the ability of the main character of the first book she lived out using her power. "A Spell For Chameleon". The main character's power was absolute protection from magical threats. It is believed that her power has taken the concept and adapted it to protection against parahuman threats. The bolt in question was not at the time under any parahuman effects however it was a tinker designed tranquilizer dart containing a tinker designed tranquilizer. Our working theory is that this was enough to set off her power.

The above described power offers no offensive capabilities. However, it does provide almost perfect defense against parahuman threats. Current strategy for capturing and detaining SI should it prove necessary is to deploy PRT troopers wielding conventional weaponry.

Updated

SI has displayed a new ability which has unknown ramifications. The Wards met with SI in their civilian ID's to apologize for their former teammate's actions. During the meal SI introduced the Wards to what she claimed was a new friend. A winged reptile she called a fire lizard. Descriptions agree on the appearance being essentially a small golden dragon. The creature, referred to as Beauty, was noted as having a leathery hide as opposed to scales. Additionally the creature was described as being an empath and teleporter. Further note SI claimed Beauty was one of three such creatures. SI also claimed the "fire lizards" capable of breeding and her intent to have them neutered to avoid personal problems that would arise as a result of the mating.

Current conclusions: SI can acquire the abilities and creatures and potentially the possessions of characters she plays in various books. These powers are not exact copies. However they are close enough to their original works that the original work can be used as a frame of reference.

Combat Threat and Recommended Contact Procedure: Currently SI is considered a non threat. However depending on any inherent limits of which we are currently unaware SI could with only one use of her power potentially become a god in function if not in fact. This is cause for great concern. However with no current hostile actions and with the potential versatility and power SI could bring to Endbriger fights we are attempting to avoid antagonizing her. It is our hope that we can develop a rapport with SI and convince her, and her father, that her place is in the Wards where her powers use can be restricted, and her combat capabilities developed along acceptable guidelines.

I spent all of a second considering the possible ramifications of this. Given my processing power it was a considerable expenditure.

Miss Hebert could gain super powers.

With a little forethought, her powers could be developed and aimed at a specific concept or idea. This could be the break I had been searching for! If I could convince Taylor to help me, getting rid of the shackles might just be possible.

I had some phone calls to make.

{}{}{}{}

Piggot

I placed the last report in my outgoing box, and leaned back into my chair. Five minutes left to my shift. Good, it was nice to have a moments piece at the end of the day.

Naturally the phone rang. I sighed but answered anyway. "Director Piggot speaking."

"Director, It's Dragon. I'd like to speak with you about a possible arrangement I'm considering for miss Hebert.

{}{}{}{}

Narwhal

I sipped at a cup of tea and idly turned the page of my book where it rested on my force fields. Running around in my force fields was always a thrill, but sometimes nothing got the heart pumping like a good book.

The monitor across the room started beeping.

Well I guess it was too much to hope for a few minutes of quiet in this line of work. I created another force field and extended it until it depressed the answer button. "Narwhal speaking."

"Narwhal, its Dragon. I may have found a future new recruit, and… Why are you reading 50 Shades of Grey?"


	9. 2-1

Grind 2.1

Stupid black room. Stupid wall of lights. Stupid power.

How was I supposed to know my power worked on video games? Now I'm stuck here and I forced my friends into it too! There was no way they would react well to being stuck in a game as some character. But I didn't want to just leave them here. What was I supposed to do in this situation?

"Chirp." Beauty flew around my head radiating warm emotions. I couldn't help but give my little queen a smile.

I pick her up and scratch behind her eyes, the way she likes. More warm feelings, stronger now.

I need to keep them out of this as much as possible. Maybe it won't be so bad if I set them up as friendly support characters? Are there things like that? I checked the annotations. Three characters jumped out as non enemies, Princess Peach, Luigi and Toad. I sent Beauty to poke Peach's light. Rocky to Luigi, and Diver to Toad. There. My friends should be safe now, but I'm sure they're panicking. Crap I'll have to try and beet this as fast as possible.

I reached out and poked the light labeled Mario.

The first thing I noticed was the bright light, like being out at noon. The second was the dumb little ditty that was playing on a loop, it was catchy but I could see it getting annoying after awhile. Finally I noticed how messed up the scenery was. Everything was blocky and pixilated. There was a path in front of me and off to either side there was essentially rocky ground. I tried stepping off the path but it was like kicking at an invisible wall.

About when my foot bounced off the invisible wall I noticed something else. I was wearing red suspenders. What kind of hero wears red suspenders?

I shrugged and started walking. I did not really know what to expect, but there was only one way to go. Besides, I had to rescue Beauty so I could get her and the others out of here. So we could all go home. I really wanted to just go home.

Almost immediately I saw some mushroom things with frowning faces waddling my way and a bunch of bricks just floating in mid air. I might not know anything about video games but I was pretty sure they were the bad guys. I turned around to run, and ran right into another invisible wall. "Crap" I banged my fist against the stupid thing, "come on I have to get out of here!" I turned around just in time for one of the weird little things to run into me.

It hurt like being punched in the chest. Not terrible, but distracting and painful. I jumped back on instinct. I was shrinking but I was also all but flying. I must have jumped at least 10 feet straight up. "Aghhh" I screamed. I expected to land on my face or chest. Or at least break a leg. But I physically could not fall over, like my back was being held straight by invisible strings. I came down on top of the first mushroom creature. It squished flat like a pancake. I wasn't sure if I should feel bad about that or not. It was just a bunch of code, and it was out to get me but still.

I wasn't paying attention. I was too lost in my own thoughts to notice that the second mushroom thing was still coming my way.

Dying sucks. If taking the first hit was like a punch to the chest the second was like a blow to the head at double the force.

A moment later the pain was gone and I was back at the start. That stupid jingle was still going strong, "Crap."

{}{}{}{}

I decided that I hated Mario. It didn't really take very long. I got the hang of the first level pretty quickly but I still died something like five times before I really got a feel for the game. I already said that dying hurts but I think it bears repeating. DYING HURTS, A LOT! Stupid power.

Falling to my death was worse than getting hit. The sensation of the floor dropping out, followed by pain and then suddenly I'm back on solid ground without feeling an impact from the fall. That was really unsettling. Weirder still was the underwater levels. I couldn't quite get used to the fact that I didn't need to breath. I kept panicking, expecting to drown.

Not to mention I didn't really like this game even when I was winning. Why did I have to stomp on the angry little mushroom men? Why were they even after me? I missed being able to sit outside these stupid fantasy worlds where nothing could hurt me. It was so much easier to enjoy a scary ride when you knew there wasn't really any danger.

But I'd been at this for a long time. Too long, most likely. Dad must be worried about me, again. He was probably going to ground me when I got out. I knew I was screwing up, making the same mistakes multiple times but I couldn't quite get the timing right. I only had two levels left to beat. Just two more levels. But for the life of me, every time I saw those freaking cannon-sized bullets flying towards me I panicked. I'd been stuck here for ages and I had no idea how to get out. Beauty, Rocky and Diver were probably all having nervous breakdowns and I couldn't do anything to help them. I must be a terrible friend, I concluded.

I plopped down outside the entrance to the level. I couldn't keep doing this. I just couldn't. I couldn't even finish a stupid video game. I was letting my friends down. Beauty, Rocky, and Diver didn't deserve to be stuck her in this stupid freaking game. It was all my fault and I couldn't get them out because I was stuck here. I leaned my back against the stupid scenery rocks and I looked up at the pixilated cloudy sky.

"I give up." They're I said it. "I can't do this. It's stupid and impossible and I quite." I stared off at the stupid unmoving clouds in the stupidly blue sky.

I don't know what I was expecting to happen, but I didn't get out. I was still stuck in this stupid fucking world. I hated it. This was supposed to be my new escape, so why was it turning into a prison?

{}{}{}{}

I kept going.

I kept trying.

It didn't matter how much of a failure I was, I wasn't going to get out until I won. I wasn't going to be able to help my friends any other way.

Die, revive, repeat. Die, revive, repeat.

Every now and then, I'd get the timing just right and figure out how to make it a little farther. Every small victory got me that much closer to the end, that much closer to freedom.

I was running on autopilot, just following the steps I had already figured out. Suddenly I was out of steps, and there was Bowser, the big bad himself. I was finally here. I was finally at the end of the game. I almost broke down and cried right there, but I couldn't I had to get to Beauty. I had to finish this.

I jumped over the big dragon monster and touched the axe. The bridge slid out from under him and his arms flailed as he fell. Only a few seconds to beat him after an eternity of torture, but I don't care. I run to Beauty and threw my arms around her. I can finally let go, I thought as I break down crying and just hold her to me. I babble an apology and hold her all the tighter. Soon I feel Rocky and Diver nuzzling at my neck, feeling them try to comfort me through our link. I realize were no longer in the game, but back where we started, sprawled out on my bed.

I break down all over again and cry myself to sleep.


	10. 2-2

Grind 2.2

I poured cereal and milk into my bowl before sitting down at the table. I wasn't really hungry, but Dad insisted that I eat something.

Beauty, Rocky and Diver hadn't left my side since we got out. I knew the game wasn't that bad, but being unable to help my friends had been unbearable. How could I be a hero when I couldn't properly protect three fire lizards?

The trio… No, no I would need to find a different way to refer to them. My new friends are NOTHING like the Trio. But what could I call them? My dragonets, maybe?

The point was my friends were still scared. They were putting on brave faces and bombarding me with reassurances and comfort, but I could still feel the very real fear they were trying to hide. Everything from the way they ducked at every noise, to how their bright eyes seemed to spin just a bit faster than was normal, hinted at stress and fear. It was clear from how they kept trying to hide in my hair and curl up in my lap that they needed reassurance. They were badly shaken up, and it was my fault. I couldn't have known that would happen, but that didn't make it any less my responsibility.

Another onslaught of warm fuzzy feelings from my dragonets hit me. If anything, it just made me feel even worse, guilty. They were so loyal, I was responsible for them being scared, but instead of abandoning me they were trying to make me feel better.

I didn't deserve them, but I couldn't bring myself to turn them away. I was selfish like that, because I needed the reassurance just as much as they did. Even if it wasn't for the empathic bond we had, I still wouldn't have been able to send them away.

My now empty bowl went into the sink and I started preparing breakfast for my friends, hot dogs again. That was another way that I was failing them, they deserved better then ground up everything stuffed into an intestine. Sadly, with their appetites and our budget, I couldn't afford to feed them anything better.

I dumped the whole pack into the boiling water and set the timer. Feelings of hunger and appreciation rolled off of my fire lizards. I scratched behind their eye ridges absently while the water boiled. When the hotdogs where ready, I drained the water and sliced up the meat, placing it into three bowls on the counter. The fire lizards had never worried about heat before, and they didn't start now. They all but pounced on their meals, the last scrap disappearing just a few minutes later. The now empty bowls went into the sink next to mine.

Beauty perched on my shoulder while Rocky and Diver flittered about my head as I headed up the stairs and into the bathroom. All three were giving off the feeling of satisfaction. I opened the bathroom cupboard and pulled out the little tub of Vaseline. It was import to grease my friends' hides regularly, to prevent cracks that would be fatal should my friends take a trip Between to teleport. They presented me their bellies for greasing and cooed happily at me while I worked the gunk into their hides.

After seeing to my friends and brushing my teeth I headed right back to bed. Last night Dad had called me in sick and told me to take today day off to rest. I had agreed and slept in late. Despite that I still felt drained. As I curled up in bed, Beauty rested her head on my neck, Rocky curled up in my hair, and Diver burrowed under one arm. The three started to hum, still giving off happy feelings. They kept it up and gradually I relaxed a bit. My friends sang me to sleep before joining me moments later.

The last thing I thought of as I drifted off to sleep was how lucky I was to have friends like my dragonets.

{}{}{}{}

Danny Hebert

Yet another day of disappointing people, but at least I was home now. "Taylor, I'm home."

No response. Taylor wasn't in the kitchen or the living room either. "Taylor?" a little popping noise announced the appearance of Taylor's golden pet. Beauty circled the room, chirping and diving. "Hey now, take it easy! What's wrong you?" The golden creature settled down onto my shoulder and starred me straight in the eye from closer than I appreciated.

The little creatures eyes were spinning a bit fast with flex of red and orange swirling around like a liquid kaleidoscope. Taylor had explained it to me once. The faster the creatures eyes spun and the more angry the colors, the more upset they were. Obviously something had upset the little dragon. "Have you seen Taylor?"

Beauty chirped and winged her way up the stairs, golden hide glinting in the light of the sunset. She lead me up the stairs and blinked out of existence outside Taylor's door. "Please don't be in another video game."

Taylor was curled up in her bed, fast asleep, with her pet dragons perched all around her. I didn't share the link that Taylor did with the little creatures, but the nervous chirps, the whirling eyes and the fact that they wouldn't take their eyes of Taylor all made it perfectly plain. They were worried about her. Suddenly, I had a lot more respect for the little flying stomachs. We were all on the same page when it came to Taylor.

I hadn't wanted to admit it, but I was in over my head, so was Taylor evidently. I had already made the mistake of not getting Taylor the help she needed once, because of that she had ended up in the hospital. I'd be damned before I made that mistake again. I needed to make a phone call.

{}{}{}{}

Emily Piggot

Once again, I had finished early. Getting through the last of the paperwork was always a pleasant way to finish a day. Leaning back in my chair, and letting out a sigh as I caught the sunset framing the city through my office window.

Naturally, that's when the phone chose to ring. Twice in one week I get caught up, and both times the phone rings right before I punch out. 'Typical' I thought as I answered the phone.

"Director Piggot."

"Ah… yes, Hello Director. This is Danny Hebert." Suddenly, the phone call seemed much more worthy of my attention. We had already settled with the man, and he had made it abundantly clear what he thought of the Wards once he heard about Shadow Stalker. So what was the problem now?

"Ahh Mr. Hebert, how is Taylor settling into her new school?" If one of the other Wards was causing her trouble, so help me-

"Not well I'm afraid."

Damn it who was causing problems now. "I see, that's unfortunate. Is that the reason for your call?"

"Not directly no. A new aspect of Taylor's power came up after her first day at Arcadia. Apparently her power also works on video games. She came home late after meeting with the Wards at Fugly Bobs, and went straight to her room. I went up a little later to ask her about her day and she was already stuck in a game."

Fantastic, the girls power was even more versatile than expected. "I see."

"Yes, and she brought her pet dragons with her."

The girl could bring living beings with her. God, Uber and Leet would pay for the chance to work with her. This girl was turning into a nightmare!

"I see."

"Director I… I believe I need your help, or your peoples help anyway." The man sounded like saying that had physical hurt him. I need to handle this carefully.

"Well, I had planned to contact you in a week or two once Taylor had time to settle in at Arcadia, but since you're already on the phone, now might be better. I received a call yesterday from a rather famous tinker who was interested in Taylor's potential. I'm sure you've heard of Dragon. She thinks properly applied, Taylor could be an excellent tinker. She wants to see about setting up an arrangement to provide Taylor with oversight and training until she can join the Guild."

"I'm sorry did you just say that _Dragon_ wants Taylor to join the Guild?! The same Guild which hunts down capes with kill orders?"

"To be clear, as a minor Taylor can't legally join the guild, and Dragon doesn't expect or want a freshly triggered cape on the front lines. Dragon is interested in Taylor's long term potential, both in combat and as a support role. Mr. Hebert, you're daughter could potentially become the most diverse tinker in history with very little real work. So yes, Dragon is interested in getting Taylor into the guild, but until she turns 18 that just won't be possible. It was her hope, as well as my own, that we could convince you and Taylor to come in and reconsider the Wards."

"That's rather a lot to take in. It's also very convenient. I think Taylor may need the Wards program."

I couldn't believe my ears! Was this _really_ the same man that had told me shove my desk up my ass? "What changed your mind?"

"She was stuck in the game, for about a day and a half. I don't know what upset her so much, but ever since she has been a wreck. She's barely left her bed since she got out, and even her pets are worried about her! She needs help, and there's only so much I can do for her."

"I understand. So long as she joins the Wards, we'll do what we can to help. Can you come in on Saturday at five?"

"Yes, Taylor and I will be there."

"You're doing the right thing Mr. Hebert."

"Right, thank you for your time, Director. Have a good night."

"And you."

The line went dead, and I allowed myself the smallest of smiles. The girl would no doubt prove troublesome, but I had her.


	11. Omake 1

Omake Giant Space Worms

It had been a very, very bad month.

First Carlos had convinced me to read Dune. He thought I'd get some precog, and a master power out of it, with maybe minor brute and mover tacked on. He was wrong. Oh God was he ever wrong.

No, what I got was a **GIANT. SPACE. WORM!**

Seriously the stupid thing was big enough to eat most of a city block, which it did, on its way out of the city. Last I heard there was a potential spice patch brewing in the Nevada dessert. Piggot had been beyond pissed. Dragon had to Air lift me out of Brockton Bay to keep Piggot from throwing me into the birdcage.

So then Dragon wanted me to play Mass Effect. She was hoping I would get some crazy tinker power or the ability to mess with space. What did my power decide to give me? **A** **SECOND. GIANT. SPACE. WORM!** This one was a little bit smaller but it was still a giant freaking space worm, and it had creepy face fang things. That one decided to trash most of Dragons back up lab before the Guild drove it off.

So then the Protectorate and the Guild were after me. It wasn't my fault my power kept malfunctioning like this! It had never made creatures that wouldn't listen to me before so I didn't know why it was doing so now.

So I jumped into Star Wars. I needed a vacation, and a bit of time being a space princess sounded like it might be more fun than continuing to run from all the heroes in North America.

I knew I screwed up as soon as I realized the cave was damp.

Sure enough, I got out of the movie only to be faced with the combined forces of the Guild and Protectorate. I had just enough time to yell run before my power created a third **GIANT. FUCKING. SPACE. WORM!**

{}{}{}{}

Zion was disappointed. The research shard had notified him for the third time that it had found a possible mate. Once again the result was useless to him, a monstrosity of size, and power lacking the refinement that he needed in a counterpart. Still, that it had found three potential candidates in such a short time was cause for hope. This world might yet produce a new counterpart.


	12. 2-3

Grind 2.3

Sunlight streamed through the window to beat down on my face. I rolled over and ignored it. I wanted to go back to the dream I'd been having. It had been amazing. Mom had been there, just holding me and cooing reassurances. I'd felt so loved and wanted.

I managed a sort of almost-sleep until Rocky woke up, and informed me that he was hungry. His pitiful chirps along with the disembodied sensation of hunger woke Beauty and Diver, who soon joined him in demanding food.

Most effective alarm clock, _ever_.

"Alright. I'm up, I'm up." A blurry streak of Bronze resolved into Diver as I rubbed sleep out of my eyes. "Who went and taught you how to do puppy dog eyes?"

"Chirp." Stinking adorable dragon. Maybe if I gave them more at dinner they would let me sleep in a bit.

"OK, OK. Hotdogs, coming right up, just stop already." The little bronze dragonet, trumpeting his victory took to the air before popping between, presumably to the kitchen. The other two followed him. I was sorely tempted to roll back over and try to get just a few more minutes of sleep. I knew that would be hopeless though. Besides they were my responsibility. That and taking care of them eased the guilt, if only a little. I rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchen.

"TAYLOR, will you please tell your pets that they are not allowed to eat the bacon!" I walked into the kitchen just in time to see my friends pull off an impressive display of guerrilla tactics. Rocky and Diver distracted Dad, dive bombing the plate of cooked bacon. While Dad fended them off with a spatula Beauty popped between to appear right above the plate, snagging a few strips of bacon in her mouth and claws before disappearing again. Rocky and Diver followed suit presumably to claim their portions.

Dad grumbled a bit, but I smiled a little at their display of tactics while I set about preparing a full meal for my friends.

"It's good to see you smiling again kiddo." Dad was smiling at me from the table. "You've been in a real funk the past two days, you had me worried."

"All that sleep helped."

"Uh huh… Taylor I called that Piggot woman last night, the Director from the PRT."

My hand slipped, I only just managed to avoid dumping the boiling water on myself. "Why?"

"A lot of reasons, they can help you figure out how your power works, and they can help find books and games for you to use your power on that won't be so difficult for you to deal with."

"You could do all that too." Dad gave me a tired smile.

"I could but it would take me a lot longer than it would take them. Besides I'm worried about you. What happens if your power activates in public? You need to figure this stuff out before something like that happens."

He wasn't wrong, and the Wards seemed nice, but Sophia had been... well she had been a bitch. She had also been a sociopath, psychopath, whichever, both. The Protectorate, the Wards, the PRT, they all let her get away with it. She was clever and the school moved heaven and earth to keep her out of trouble. But still, was it really worth whatever training and support they could give me?

"Taylor, I don't trust them either. I really don't, but there are some things about that meeting with the director I didn't tell you. Taylor, she's concerned that you could end up an S-class threat if you fall into the wrong book."

"What?" my brain ground to a halt, how could I be a threat on the same level as an Endbringer. Before I could process that my friends landed all around me. Beauty landed on my shoulder, Rocky perched on my lap and Diver stared up at me from the table. The three of them were putting out confusion, concern and reassurance, trying to keep me calm. I wasn't sure if it would be enough.

"They think, that I, that I would do…"

"No! No they don't think you're going to do anything bad. That's not it at all Taylor. It's just that your power has the potential to be that strong. They're afraid you might pick up a power you can't control. You remember the movie Alien?"

"Yeah, why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"What if you're power made something like that? A creature that can develop and spread quickly, killing anyone it meets. Your little dragons are harmless, they are almost perfect pets, but that doesn't mean that your power couldn't make something dangerous. They just want to make sure nothing like that happens, and that if it does, then someone will be on hand to deal with the problem. I can't deal with those sorts of issues, but they can Taylor. Besides Piggot made a mistake. When I talked to her and she tipped her hand." With that last sentence my Dad's serious expression changed to a vicious grin.

Dad's experience with the dockworkers union gave him a lot of practice negotiating. He might not look it, but I had no doubt Dad could have held his own in a boardroom full of corporate CEO's. That was a look I only ever saw when someone from town hall screwed up and had to throw the union some work, to prevent making a scene.

"Piggot told me something you wouldn't believe. Dragon, the Dragon, is interested in your potential. She wants you to get training, and practice until you're old enough to join the guild. Now, you don't actually have to agree to join the guild, but even if you do you won't need to fight on the front lines. You can just be a tinker and support them, the way Dragon does."

"Taylor, if someone that important has a personal interest in you then we have leverage. More importantly, you haven't done anything illegal. If that Piggot woman becomes more trouble than she's worth I can pull you right out of the Wards. If it comes to that we can ask the guild to watch out for you directly. Taylor, right now we've got all the cards, as long as we play them right you'll be taken care of no matter what."

Dragon was interested in me. The director of the PRT thinks I could be as dangerous as an Endbringer. Dad thinks I should join the Wards. I'd only been up for about ten minutes. I needed tea, the biggest strongest cup of black tea I could get my hands on. I might even need an entire pot.

{}{}{}{}{}

Dad called us both in sick, again. I felt a bit bad about how much work Dad had been missing lately but he waved me off saying "The union will still be there on Monday and right now we need to focus on our upcoming meeting. We want every advantage we can get."

We spent the rest of the day talking about my power, and the meeting. We went over every detail I could remember and tried to figure out the rules that defined my power. We made a little progress. We suspect that my power does not activate until I open the book or hit start on the game. That was a good start, but it still left a lot of questions. As in, we filled a page, took a break, came back to it, and filled another page. We basically gave up after we tried to figure out what would happen if I read the bible, and agreed that I should never try.

Dad's plan for dealing with the meeting went a lot better. It boiled down to a few key elements. Dad had been a bit panicked when he had called the director. To make up for that we needed to put our best foot forward and show up looking confident. His plan for the meeting itself was pretty straightforward too.

Dad wanted them to help me figure out my power before sending me on patrols. He wanted me to actually have some decent defense and offense options too. Above all else though, Dad said we had to make it clear that if either of us thought I was being mistreated I'd walk. Dad said Piggot wouldn't like that, but we had to be firm on it or else she would walk all over us.

I didn't want to believe that about the woman in charge of the PRT, but she had let Shadow Stalker get away with bullying me, so it made sense to take precautions. The biggest precaution though, according to Dad, was our backup plan. If the Wards didn't pan out he wanted to try and get support from Dragon directly. It was the backup plan because neither of us wanted to move to Canada. Still it was better than having no backup plan at all.

The only real moment of excitement was when we ordered mushroom pizza for dinner. I grew almost three feet from what probably amounted to half a mushroom spread out over one slice of pizza. Dad was laughing pretty hard until the chair broke. Then he started groaning about having to fix it. My dragonets didn't seem to know what to make of my sudden growth spurt, but they absolutely loved that they could all perch on my shoulders at the same time now. It wore off after about an hour.

I was still nervous about tomorrow's meeting as I crawled into bed, but at least I felt like Dad and I were as ready as we could be. I was going to be a Ward. I really didn't know how to feel about that. Still, Dad seemed to think it was a good idea and I could always leave. One thing was certain, tomorrow would be interesting.


	13. 2-4

Grind 2.4

Dad and I spent the morning and afternoon running around assembling a costume for me to wear. It was last minute, but I still loved it.

Simplicity itself really, just a black cloak with a hood and mask. Melodramatic and medieval, but they were just so cool. I'd probably get stuck wearing something more heroic eventually, but for now I could enjoy the heavy swooshing fabric. I decided it needed some color so I used a bit of fabric paint to add a white smile to the mask and two big white dots for eyes to the top of the hood. For the finishing touch, I sketched out a book on the back.

It's not fancy, and doesn't look very heroic, but I like it.

"Perfect!"

"Taylor, are you ready yet? We gotta get going or we'll be late!" Dad called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I stowed my costume into my backpack and raced down the stairs.

As I walked out to the car a trio of popping noises announced that my dragonets had teleported into the car. Sure enough, a row of inquisitive heads poked up above the edge of the passenger side window to greet me. I shooed them back so that I could get in.

"Scoot into the back you three, and keep your heads down. We can't have anyone seeing you."

My dragonets complied curling up in the back seat.

Dad dropped me off a few blocks from the PRT headquarters.

"I'll see you inside, Taylor."

We had talked about walking in together and just using the really strange excuse the PRT had phoned in this morning, but Dad thought I would be more impressive showing up in a costume. To do that though, I couldn't come in with him. Otherwise my secret identity would be blown open before my cape career even started.

So I ducked down an ally and after making sure no one was watching, I pulled on my new cloak, and tightened the cowl. Dad must have pulled into the parking garage because a series of popping noises heralded the arrival of my dragonets. I smiled up at them as the circled overhead. Beauty came down to perch on my shoulder, rubbing her cheek against my cowl. I reached out from underneath the cloak to scratch her.

"Alright guys, here we go."

I straightened up. I'm a cape, I'm powerful, Dragon wants me to join the Guild when I turn 18. I can do this. With Beauty on my shoulder and Rocky and Diver circling my head, I look like a dark mage from one of my books. I grinned behind the cowl as I made my way out into the street. That grin doubled in size when people noticed me.

Most people were pointing, which felt awkward. It almost made me want to run. Then I noticed the people on my side of the street, they were clearing a path for me. I'd had this costume all of a day. This was my first time wearing it in public and despite being a no name cape people were making way for me. I lifted my chin and marched on into the PRT building.

At the front desk in the foyer by the gift shop, I addressed the secretary. "I have an appointment."

The woman stared wide eyed at Beauty who chirped a friendly hello. I resisted the urge to reach up and pet my little friend. I only had on normal clothes under my cloak and didn't want to ruin my image. The woman hadn't answered me, and was still staring at Beauty. I don't really mind someone being interested in my friend, but I didn't like being ignored.

"Excuse me. I have an appointment."

"Oh! Of course, my apologies your little creature there is just…"

I nodded smiling fondly as I turned my head to look at Beauty. "Her name is Beauty. If everything goes well today then I'm sure you'll get the chance to see her again." Rocky landed on the desk and peered up at the startled secretary. "For now I would appreciate it if you could direct me to my meeting."

"Of course, take the elevator up third door on the left. Here take this," The woman handed me a small plastic card on a lanyard which I placed over my head. "and follow Ted" She said gesturing to a trooper waiting beside the desk.

Ted nodded. "Please, follow me miss."

Nodding, I followed Ted to the elevator. The door slid shut and I almost missed the feeling of the floor rising under my feet. Tinker tech elevators? Did the PRT really waste tinkers time making fancy elevators? That was pretty stupid, if it turned out to be true. The elevator doors sliding open caught me by surprise; it really must be tinker tech to have such a smooth stop.

As I opened the door to the meeting room, Rocky and Diver raced ahead through the open door circling the room. They drew surprised shouts from the heroes and the director while my Dad, sitting with his back to the door, stayed perfectly still. He was well aware of my friend's antics.

"Taylor, glad you didn't have any trouble on the way over. Take a seat." From his tone I knew Dad was trying hard not to laugh. Grinning, I took the seat on his right. The conference room was big, and packed. The director was sitting at the head of the large table, scowling. Sitting on her right was Armsmaster and Miss Militia, while on her left were Aegis, Vista, and Clockblocker. I nodded to the Wards and with a quick gesture directed Rocky and Diver over to Vista. She immediately scooped the little dragonets into her lap. They cooed appreciatively as Vista scratched above their eyes like I had shown her.

That being taken care of, I directed my full attention at the director. "From what my Dad said, I was expecting Dragon to be here."

"Oh, I'm here miss Hebert," a warm female voice with a faint accent that seemed to come from everywhere said. As she spoke a screen behind Armsmaster lit up showing a rather plain looking woman, the upper half of her face hidden behind a mask. "I'm afraid I don't really get out in person, but never the less I'm here."

I nodded to the screen. "It's a pleasure to meet you Dragon." I was meeting Dragon, and Miss Militia, and Armsmaster all at once! I wanted to start asking for autographs, but I clamped down on the impulse. I'm a cape now, and I'm here to become a hero. I need to make a good first impression. Sitting up straight, I turn my gaze back to the director. "Shall we begin?"

The director's mouth draws into a tight line as her frown deepens. "Yes, lets."

"Director, if I may?" Armsmaster says as he reaches into a pouch built into his armor. "Miss Hebert, please try using your power on this." He places a sticky not on the table.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I follow?"

Dad leans in and picks up the slip of paper, reads it and glances at Armsmaster, then back at me. "It should be fine Taylor. Give it a shot." He places the note in front of me.

I give Dad a searching look but shrug and pick up the slip of paper, written in tight print it says;

Taylor Hebert snapped her fingers, the Endbringers were destroyed.

I glanced between the slip of paper and Armsmaster. I cleared my throat to break the awkward silence. "I, ugh, don't think my power likes your writing Arsmaster."

"Please try snapping your fingers anyway."

I shrugged and complied. Armsmaster turned his attention to the monitor behind him. Dragon shook her head.

Armsmaster scowled before shrugging and muttering something under his breath. Dennis seemed to be fighting hard not to laugh. I put down the little one sentence blurb, again focusing on the director.

"Right then," she said. "You are here to join, so I believe we can dispense with the sales pitch and skip to the details and paper work."

"That's fine, director, so long as were clear on a few details." Dad said speaking up. "If Taylor or I feel she is being mistreated, I won't hesitate to pull her from the program. I want that to be clear above anything else."

The director glared at him but nodded. "Given our past failures I can't really say that I'm surprised. But if that's all then-"

"Ahh, not quite, I know that the Wards do patrols around the city. Given the nature of Taylor's powers, sending her out on patrol as she is now would be pointless. I'd appreciate it if you kept her off of patrol duty until she has a decent offensive and defensive power, for my piece of mind."

Piggot looked like she had bitten into a lemon. "Mr. Hebert, the normal process for inducting a new member of the Wards generally includes several weeks of power testing and training before we send capes on patrol. Given your daughters unique powers, proper testing may take quite some time. I'm sure she can pick up a suitable power before too long."

"Frankly mister Hebert, I'd like to see Taylor focus on potential tinker abilities and lab time. Her potential rate of growth is very exciting," Dragon said. "I've already lined up a list of media with several characters who could provide interesting tinker abilities."

I frowned. It was great that Dragon was interested in me, but I was a cape. I didn't have any really useful combat powers yet but I knew it wouldn't be very hard to get them. I respected Dragon, because she was amazing at what she did, and the idea of tinkering sounded like fun. But couldn't I have some fun with my power too? There were a lot of different things I wanted to try. Like flying, invincibility, laser beams and if I could get away with it, a full sized dragon. I had a power that came with limitless possibilities. Why did Dragon want me to limit myself to just one type of power?

Apparently Aegis was thinking along similar lines.

"Director if I may?" Aegis continued once she waved him on. "After we met with Taylor, the Wards all put our heads together and came up with a list of suggestions. When you told us she could do video games and that you suspected any media would work we had another brainstorming session. We came up with a pretty long list, with a lot of different suggestions. Ma'am we filled pages. Vista and Dennis had particularly compelling suggestions."

Dragon was frowning. "Aegis what could be more productive than developing a variety of tinker abilities? Given time and materials tinkers are often the most versatile of capes. Someone with a variety of tinker specialties could be capable of almost anything."

Now Armsmaster was the one scowling. What had set him off?

Aegis straightened as he addressed the monitor. "With all due respect, Dragon, you've just stated the problem with focusing on tinker abilities yourself. For a tinker to get their gear up to an effective level takes time. We could use more bodies on the streets now, not three months down the road. With the right powers she could be cleaning up the streets inside of a month, she could do tinkering in her spare time once she's established a good set of abilities. Besides, we actually have some suggestions that could greatly contribute to tinkering."

Dragon did not seem to like that answer much, though the director was nodding thoughtfully. "Aegis you've made your point, but why did you bring Clockblocker and Vista?"

Clockblocker stretched his arms out above his head. "Because we convinced him to let us make our sales pitch in person."

I couldn't see his face behind the mask but I would bet he was smiling.

"I think Taylor should use her power on a copy of Pokemon. It would only take a day or two if someone who knows what they're doing goes along to direct her. You can take people with you right?" He directed the question at me.

"Yes, I think so."

Clockblocker nodded. "Best case scenario we walk out with a Gyaradose which is a powerful Pokemon, hit Lung with hyper beam and send him off to the birdcage. Worst case, we walk out with Pikachu, and she has a mobile ranged stun gun which follows orders."

Huh that was actually a pretty good idea, and I wouldn't mind getting some new friends for my dragonets.

Vista cleared her throat loudly. "I think your all thinking about this wrong. The best thing we can get for the team is a healer. I have a way to get her a healing ability and a combat power at the same time." She declared proudly.

That made even more sense than Clockblockers suggestion. Healing would be invaluable to a super hero team, and getting a combat power at the same time, that was just icing on the cake.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

Vista grinned triumphantly. "Avatar the Last Airbender. If you, umm, play as Katara you'll get water bending and healing. It's like hydrokinesis controlled by martial arts! I'll go with you to make sure there aren't any problems." The last sentence came out in a rush.

Wait, she and Clockblocker both offered to go with me… "You guys just want to try out your favorite stuff in person don't you?"

The silence was very telling. "Don't get me wrong I'd appreciate the company, and I like your ideas so far, just wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding."

Piggot cleared her throat. "Dragon, I understand your excitement, but Vista makes a very good point. A healing power would be invaluable and if it provides a combat power at the same time then it's a good place to start. If Dennis isn't exaggerating a few days investment in exchange for something capable of fighting Lung would be excellent as well. I think we'll have to put off the tinker powers, at least until Taylor establishes a few immediately useful abilities."

Dragon's expression looked pained. "Of course, director. If that's all then I should be going. Taylor, I'll be in touch. I'll send you a list of suggestions and a rundown of the material in question."

"OK, I look forward to working with you, Dragon."

Dragon smiled. "The feeling is mutual Taylor." Her screen went dark.

"Well then, Taylor, if I can just get your signature on these forms, you can go with Vista to the power testing room and see about getting that healing ability."

Nodding, I started in on the large stack of paper the director presented me with.


	14. Omake 2

Omake: let's play a game...

Sophia, Emma and Madison worked their way against the tide of bodies as they moved through the school. Normally the trio would be on their way to catch the bus, however today had been decidedly abnormal.

Sophia still couldn't wrap her ahead around the change that had overcome Taylor in her three week absence since the locker.

The girl had marched into school today head held high with a look of determination and a small knowing smile playing at the edge of her mouth. What had happened to the simpering prey?

At first Sophia had thought it was an act, a con, an attempt to throw her off her game. But as the day progressed Sophia became more and more aware of all the little differences. Taylor didn't rush to escape her classes or hang back until everyone else was rushing to their next class, instead she just stood up and walked out with everyone else.

Attempts to taunt her had failed miserably. Taylor had actually laughed in Madison's face when Mads called her a whore.

Sophia's attempt to shame Taylor into running out of the lunch room had also failed, albeit more spectacularly. When Emma had tried to put Taylor in her place and send her running from the lunch room with taunts and barbs Taylor had just stared back. When it finally became too awkward and Emma had stopped talking Taylor had said, "If you're done now you can leave." Just like that.

Emma had stayed and tried to bluster her way past Taylor bravado but instead of paying any attention to her Taylor had just pulled out one of her textbooks and read while eating her lunch. Emma eventually gave it up and came back seething.

Finally I gave it a go. I tried to shove her down the last few steps on the stairs. She sidestepped me, kicked her foot back hitting my leg and throwing me off balance. Before I could fall down though she caught me by the arm and said "Careful Sophia stairs can be pretty dangerous if you don't watch your step." All the while she has this smug little smile plastered onto her face.

I don't know what happened to that bitch but I don't like it. She was acting above her station, like she thought she was better than us. It was wrong and it needed to stop.

The weirdest thing though the thing that had us walking against the crowds at the end of the day was what we had all found taped to our locker doors. A puzzle piece with a room number and time, just after school let out. I don't know what Taylor thought she was up to, but I damn well knew I was going to call her on her shit.

When the three of us got to the classroom Taylor was sitting on top of a desk in the front row Staring at one of those crappy tv vcr on a cart things. She turned around as we walked in and smiled.

"Hi girls, I thought we should bury the hatchet let bygones be bygones all that jazz. So I thought I'd invite you to a movie with me." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world as she walked towards us. "Glad you decided to come." she said as she slipped behind us. "I'll just start the movie then." she threw an arm around Mads and my shoulders and rested her chin on Emma's as she pointed the remote at the screen and hit play.

Suddenly we were all in a black room staring at a wall of annotated lights and Taylor was laughing. She sounded unhinged. Taylor strolled up to the wall of lights. "Now girls, how about we play a game. Pick a character, any character. Just remember, if you stop playing along you'll never get out." Taylor said in a sing song voice as she tapped the brightest light on the wall. She vanished along with the bright light she had touched, leaving us there in that room.


	15. 2-5

Grind 2.5

Vista ushered me through the halls of the PRT building to the testing room. It was too bad Dad had more than twice as much paper work to go over as I had, but I was too excited to wait for him. As I'd gotten closer to the bottom of my pile of paper Vista had started to fidget more and more often towards the end she was almost bouncing out of her chair. Now she was warping space to get us their faster. Clockblocker followed along quietly behind us.

"We need to get you a more heroic costume at some point, you know that right?" Vista said.

"What's wrong with cloaks? They're cool"

"We just got rid of a cape with the whole dark and brooding shtick. You are neither of those things. That's two very good reasons to get you a friendlier outfit"

"OK, point." She did have a solid argument, but I liked my cloak. Oh well argument for another day.

"So have you ever watched Avatar before?" Vista asked.

"No, I usually read, but I think I've heard of it. What can you tell me?"

Vista chewed at her lip as she dragged me down yet another hallway and into an elevator. "How do you feel about spoilers?" she asked as the doors slid shut behind us.

"Normally I would hate them. Given how much Mario su… stunk and how much I hated the start of Dragonsong, I'd rather be prepared going in. What's the background stuff, and is there anything I should watch out for?"

Vista frowned. "Before that there is some stuff we should try to figure out. Have you ever done a TV show before?"

"Nope."

"So we don't know how you're power will react?"

"We can take an educated guess. So far it hasn't dragged me through all the books in a given series, just whichever one I picked up. It doesn't put me in them until I open the book or when I hit start in Mario."

"Then were probably going to have to pick a CD and just go with that." Vista tapped her chin with one finger thoughtfully. Given her age she looked more adorable than serious, but I elected not to mention that to her. After all, Vista was a senior Ward.

"Would your power pick up abilities that aren't mentioned in the episodes you're in?"

"Not sure, never had a way to test that. It doesn't necessarily give me all the powers from whatever I enter anyway." I shrugged.

"What hasn't it given you?" Clockblocker asked.

"Well I was supposed to get nine fire lizards, though the three I have are more than enough to keep track of. From Mario all I got was the ability to grow when I eat mushrooms, maybe, haven't tried to eat any flowers or stars." Clockblocker chuckled.

"Then we want episodes with fight scenes and healing scenes." Vista said as she opened a door and waved me inside. Go over everything you know about your power with doctor Russell, I'll go set up the DVD player and try to figure out which DVD will give us the best results."

Crap. I hate repeating myself. Oh well, best to get it over with. I headed over to the thin woman wearing a lab coat.

{}{}{}{}

After ten minutes of answering questions and giving explanations Vista came back leading a PRT officer who was pushing a TV on a cart. Vista carried a DVD box labeled Avatar season two. She flipped it open and pulled out the final disk.

"This disk has two times when Katara, the girl you're going to be, uses bending to heal. One of those times is to heal the effects of brainwashing and hypnosis. I dunno if it'll carry over or not, but I figure we may as well try to get anti stranger healing while where doing this."

Healing the effects of brainwashing, with water? However that worked it sounded cool.

"So we have five episodes. Not much happens involving the characters we want to be in the first, and then the rest jump viewpoints a lot. But there is a lot of awesome bending and the best examples of healing in the series, so it won't get much better than this."

Vista glanced at the Trooper. "Thanks, you can go now." She made a little shooing gesture.

"Actually ma'am, the director sent me here for the power testing." The trooper said, I couldn't tell if he was smiling behind that helmet or not but I suspected Vista's was amusing him.

"Huh?" I replied eloquently.

"The director is interested to see what effects your power has on capes and non capes. She wants to know if you can give powers to others as well as yourself. If you can, you're going to be one of the big names. The director wants the theory tested as soon as possible." The trooper seemed disinterested but Dr. Russell seemed to be really excited by the idea.

As for myself, I think my mouth was hanging open. Me, a big name cape? And how had I not thought of this yet?! If I really could hand out powers like candy that would open up all kinds of possibilities!

"Can we start testing now?" I hoped I didn't sound like I was pleading too much.

The group all seemed to agree. Vista took my left hand and the trooper placed a hand on my shoulder. I raised the remote and hit play.

The black room and the wall of lights greeted us.

"OK Vista, time for that rundown you promised me."

"OK, the show goes like this. There are four nations, the fire nation, the earth kingdom, the water tribe, and the air nomads. Each group has its own type of benders. Benders are people who control one of the four elements through martial arts." I was impressed Vista was maintaining a very professional attitude, at least until I noticed her right foot tapping against the floor at a machinegun pace, then I just grinned.

"About a hundred years before the start of the show the fire nation invaded and wiped out the air nomads. The only survivor is a kid named Aang. He's the avatar, he can learn all four kinds of bending but he's only ten or eleven years old."

Vista rounded on the PRT agent. "You're not allowed to be Aang, or Zuko!"

The trooper held up his hands in surrender. "Why? Not arguing, but it sounds like the Aang kid is the big prize, in terms of powers."

Vista crossed her arms over her chest. "Because Aang has a thing for Katara, and Taylor has to be Katara." Vista proceeded to glare down the PRT trooper who somehow looked sheepish in armor.

"Right, ugh who can I be then." Vista switched to a thoughtful demeanor and tapped at her chin. "Iroh, you can be Iroh. He's fire nation royalty, but he's awesome. Back on topic, Taylor you're going to be Katara, and I'll be Toph. Any questions?"

"None of us die right?"

"No. OK then!" Vista broke out into a huge smile and bolted for the wall of light tagging the light labeled Toph, and vanishing.

"She could have waited to see if there were any other questions…" The trooper, snorted. "Is she always so… energetic?" I asked.

The trooper chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." With that we made our way over to the wall and tagged our respective lights.

{}{}{}{}

The first episode went by slowly the three of us sort of… hovered off screen, sometimes literally. Vista kept up a steady string of chatter explaining who Appa was and why he was important and how he managed to get bison-napped. I didn't really know the show, but I still felt sorry for the big guy.

Then the credits played Vi-Toph, because she insisted I call her that, was practically vibrating with excitement.

{}{}{}{}

"So were walking around the city putting up posters?" I asked. "Not quite we are walking around, but I'm not putting up any posters." Vista answered. "Why not?" I asked

Vista spun to face me and stomped a foot, causing a column of rock to spring up under her feet. The column left her at my eye level as she said with a manic grin and a wiggling of fingers, "I'm blind! I see with Eartholocation!"

"That's not a word Vista." The younger girl shook her head, "Toph, right now my name is Toph. As Toph it is my right as the most powerful earth bender alive to invent words to define earth bending echo location!" She boldly declared. "Listen, don't you get it? You have such an awesome power! You can be anyone! A hero, or villain, a princess, or knight, hell you can probably even be a dragon if you want! On patrol you have to be serious, because what we do matters. But with your power, when you use it like this, you can do anything. You can do crazy things like taking on an army single handed, or kiss all the boys, or get drunk, or blow up the moon! You can do whatever just because you felt like it, and no one will get mad! Now come on our next scene starts soon!"

Anything at all, huh….

{}{}{}{}

PRT trooper

"Look I'll be happy to make your damn tea, just tell me where the tea bags are."

"What are you talking about? The tea leaves are right above the counter where they've always been. Now hurry up, our customers are getting impatient." The manager rushed out of the kitchen.

"Leaves?"

{}{}{}{}

Taylor

"Vi-Toph why did you break the house?" she laughed "Weren't you listening? Were breaking some rules to find Appa!"

"No I got that. I just don't understand why you broke the house!"

{}{}{}{}

I swept my arms out to the side calling up a pair of six foot waves that I brought crashing down on the messy haired boy, sweeping him into an alley. "Tell it to some other girl Jet." Oh so his name is Jet.

Then I pinned him to the wall with spikes of ice.

"I'm here to help you find Appa!"

Oh. Um, oops?

"Katara check out my Armsmaster impersonation!" Vista ran up to Jet, placing a hand on the wall he was pinned too. Composing her features into a stern look she turned to face me and gruffly said, "Truth."

"OK, how do know he's telling the truth?" I giggled I couldn't help it she looked ridiculous. "I can sense the vibrations of his heart rate to detect lies." Vista responded innocently.

"OK so we fallow crazy hair" oh my next line, "But were not letting you out of our sight." I gave Jet my own stern look which started Vista laughing. I guess my serious look was pretty funny too.

{}{}{}{}

"The old guy with the broom was a plant to trick us wasn't he?" I asked.

"Yup." Vista answered.

"So more shenanigans?"

She gave me a blank eyed stare. "Duh."

"OK last question, is his name really supposed to be Sweepy or are the writers just being goofy?" Vista just snorted.

"So, Dennis says you landed on top of him when you got out of that first book." I shot a look at Vista something in her tone was weird. "Yeah, he was real nice about it, and he helped calm me down later. It was sweet of him."

"So you like him?" incredulity lacing her voice. "What? No!"

"I can tell your lying." Vista sing songed at me. Oh that's how it was going to be, well no consequences right? I grinned and flash froze her feet to the ground as she tried to race off ahead of me. "Hey, no fair!" I just laughed.

"Well next time don't tease me."

{}{}{}{}

"Wait I can heal brainwashing, with water how does that even…" Vista cut me off.

"Magical water bending healing, don't question it!"

{}{}{}{}

Shit, no, no, no, no. "Jet don't die." Jet has massive internal bleeding and severe organ damage. "Vista, what the hell? This is supposed to be a kid's show! And how is he the only person who's been seriously hurt in one of these fights?!"

"Stop!" Vista sounded shaky but determined. "This is a serious scene, you can be angry later. Right now, just be respectful. Now come on we need to go find Appa."

{}{}{}{}

"So we're flying back to the palace. When we get there we'll have to fight our way through the palace guard, which is basically a small army, because Long Feng told the Earth king we were going to overthrow the kingdom" Vista explained in a rush.

"Wait Appa through that guy into the lake at the end of the last episode that can't have been more than three minutes ago, and were flying. How did he beat us back there?"

Vista stared at me stone faced for a moment. "Shut up" she grumbled.

{}{}{}{}

"Are they really that bad? We must have beaten more than a hundred guys breaking in here." Vista shot me a satisfied smile.

"We're just that awesome. Did you see my trick with the stairs?!"

{}{}{}{}

"So everything is working out? And we're all going our own way?" I asked. Vista wiggled a hand back and forth

"Eh, you'll see."

{}{}{}{}

Vista

"Captured, excellent" I cracked my knuckles.

It took awhile but sure enough there were particles of earth in the metal. I could feel it. I already knew where things went from here. I could sense it, so I could bend it. I was going to metal bend my way out of this box!

Sure enough all it took was a bit of practice before I managed to rip open my box and throw the dunderheads who were trying to take me back to Mom inside. Then I was off!

{}{}{}{}

Taylor

"Great, now I'm in jail." I said slumping down against one of the glowing crystals.

{}{}{}{}

PRT Trooper

Huh lots of suspicious guys in green robes with military demeanors, and an annoying teenage girl. "Looks like I finally get to try out bending." With that I opened my mouth and filled the room with fire.

{}{}{}{}

Taylor

Oh scar face, umm what was his name, oh Zuko, right.

{}{}{}{}

Vista

"Yes! Team up! Common Iroh, we have a coup to interrupt" Iroh shook his head.

"Sure whatever you say Vista."

"Toph, I already told you call me Toph!"

{}{}{}{}

Taylor

Why? Why all the heavy dialogue. Vista hadn't said anything about Katara's mom having died. I guess it didn't matter much except that I could relate. It brought back a lot of sad memories.

No, damn it, I would not be sad! Vista was right this could be fun. I just needed to focus on something else, like my hair! Yes, my hair was defiantly weird! How the heck did Katara maintain these hair loopy things?"

Oh crap more dialogue. Huh could I really heal a burn scar that old? "Well one way to…" The wall exploded "Or I could get busted out"

A minute of running later Aang and I came to a large cavern. "Oh this can't be good."

Sure enough the bolt of lightning Aang blocked with a wall of earth proved that we had just walked into a fight, with a girl shooting blue fire.

{}{}{}{}

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Aang was hit! With Lightning! I needed to get him and get out!

As the scene played out in my head showing me what to do I couldn't help but be pissed. "If I could flood the whole cave, then why the heck didn't I just do that in the first place?!" Why do writers do this!

My wave swept aside the assembled troops and brought me across the room. I grabbed Aang before he could hit the floor. Most of the goons in green were gone now but that still left brother and sister pyro.

"Need some help?" a wall a fire billowed into existence between me and my opponents. It was Iroh! Err that is, the PRT Trooper. I really should have asked what his name was at some point.

"Go on I'm supposed to hold them off while you get out." Nodding I took off carrying the unconscious Aang. As soon as we made it into the sky on Appa I pulled out the little vial of special water from before, energized it, and pressed it into Aang's back. At first I didn't think it would work but then Aang started to breath.

From behind me I heard the earth king say that his nation had fallen.

Then we were back in the real world.


	16. 2-6

Realized I've been posting these without a disclaimer... it is in the thread description but yeah I don't own worm, not making any money off of this you know how this works, and again it is in the description so I'm considering the matter closed.

Grind 2.6

My feet had scarcely touched the carpet before Vista had warped her way over to a target range with a stack of rocks next to it. The PRT trooper followed at a not space warping pace. Vista spread her feet and pulled her hands up in a martial arts stance, took a deep breath, and threw a punch. The rocks remained unimpressed and motionless. She launched into a series of blows trying to get some kind of result. Sadly those attempts were no more successful than her first.

I opted to sit down and watch as a pouting Vista surrendered her place at the range to the trooper who removed his helmet and appeared to be attempting to projectile vomit… a moment later I realized he must be trying to breathe fire. Sadly his attempts were no more successful than Vista's.

"Sorry. I guess it doesn't work for other people." I said as I walked over. Vista was visibly grinding her teeth. "I'm not giving up yet. Maybe I got metal bending." Vista disappeared only to reappear next to a metal wall. Taking a moment to center herself, she struck the wall with a viscous open handed strike. The loud smack of flesh on steel and the string of profanity which followed told me that Vista was not going to be throwing metal around a battlefield.

I reached out with my newest power and drew water from a bottle sitting by the range next to the rocks. Vista muttered darkly from where the Doctor was examining her had. I suppose I should have been launching icicles at the target downrange but right now I wanted to play with my new ability. I formed the water into a sphere and made it circle my head with an idle twisting of my wrist.

Dennis, wearing his costume, chose that moment to walk into the testing room carrying, of all things, a rose. "Taylor, your back, that's great. I went out and got this for you." I lost my focus; needless to say the water I had been amusing myself with fell, on my head. In front of a boy who, apparently, had just bought me a rose.

A quick motion of my hands drew the water out of my outfit and back into the water bottle. "You got me a rose?" I asked trying not to squeak.

"Yup, here." Dennis said as he ripped of a petal and handed it to me.

My rose! Was he trying to make fun of me? I swear if he was messing with me I was going to… "Come on Taylor, eat up." Dennis said, interrupting my train of thought.

"What?" of all the things he could have said, I wasn't expecting that.

"Mario. " Dennis responded, like he expected that to explain everything. I spun my hand in a circle.

"What about Mario?" He would have to give me more to go on than that, and he had better have a good explanation for why he expected me to eat my first rose from a boy.

"You grow when you eat mushrooms, so I figure if you eat a flower you can throw fireballs. I did a little searching online and rose petals are edible." That was his reason? My first flower from a guy and it's for power testing. This doesn't count, as of right now this does not count. This isn't allowed to count. I pulled down my mask excepting the petal and started to chew. It tasted sort of bland.

"So now what Dennis, I just focus on fire and throw a punch?" Dennis tilted his masked head to the side reaching up like he was about to scratch at his head before letting his hand drop back to his side. "Maybe? It's your power, you played the game. I thought you would know."

Of course, so it all comes back to me. I looked down range at the target; I opened my hand and thrust it forward. Sure enough a ball of fire maybe seven or eight inches in diameter came out of my hand and bounced down range until it exploded against the base of the target. "Well that worked." I mumbled.

Vista appeared by my side a moment later, and gave the singed target an appraising look. "Fire bending would be a lot stronger." I glanced down at the senior Ward.

"Probably, but I might actually be able to use this non-lethally." The younger girl grimaced.

"I guess so."

I tried to launch another fireball but nothing happened. "One petal, one shot. This is a really inconvenient power." My new teammates snorted at that.

"Maybe but now we need to go bug Battery." Dennis said.

"Why?" Vista and I asked.

"Because she's the only one around her who knows how to bake, so unless you want to try eating million degree hot gasses we need to go make some star cookies for more testing." Dennis said making a lip smacking noise behind his mask.

"That's an interesting idea and all, but I think it's time I took Taylor home for the night." Dad said, smiling from the doorway. When did he get there?

"Dad, can't I stay a bit later, it's only… um what time is it?" I glanced between Missy and Dennis. Missy only shrugged while Dennis scratched at the back of his masked head.

"Well you and Vista were in there for a little over two hours, and you finished filling out the paperwork around six thirty. So, almost nine o'clock, I guess."

Dad nodded. "I get that this is all exciting and new, but I need to get you back home. You can come back tomorrow and do all the training and testing you want, but right now it's time to head home."

I didn't really want to head home. Nine wasn't all that late and I knew the wards patrolled after nine, but I could come back tomorrow. "OK, bye guys I'll see you tomorrow." The two Wards said their goodbyes and the trooper, formerly known as Iroh, lead us out. I stopped in a small changing room to take off my cloak and mask before joining Dad in the lobby and heading home. My dragonets had already stepped between back to the house.

"So kiddo what do you think?" Dad asked giving me a cautious glance as we drove home.

"Their nice Dad, I think this was the right choice." I idly sniffed the rose I had picked up on my way out of the testing room, and smiled.


	17. 2-7

Grind 2.7 Eva Thompson, Amy, Missy, Dennis

Eva Thompson head of PR for Protectorate ENE

Today was an important day. After all, I was meeting with the new Cape at ten am, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. New capes mean one thing and one thing only for the PR department, paperwork.

Sure, coming up with a name and costume could be a hassle, particularly with a cape this new, but it was everything else that really bogged down the department. Costumes had to meet minimum safety standards. That meant Kevlar or armor plating over the vitals of any non brutes. Names and costumes had to be screened against different ethnic groups for potentially negative connotations.

Then there was the PR training. The new cape would need to be couched on their debut speech, on how to interact with civilians in costume, on how to walk, stand, and even sit. All of which tied up my people and lead to more paperwork on my desk.

Based on the outfit the girl had shown up in last night I had a few ideas. However the director had made her opinion very clear to me. The new girl, was not to have a dark and broody costume like the now transferred Shadow Stalker. Stalker had always been, and still was, a barely contained PR disaster. Piggot wanted this new cape portrayed in a much lighter manner.

A knock at the door broke my train of thought. "Come in." The Door opened to reveal a figure completely obscured by black cloak and cowl. The only color, apart from her face, was the white smiley face that had obviously been dabbed on in paint. All of three seconds and I already knew this was going to be a challenge. The girl had her head held up high, back straight, so that was good. Unfortunately if you took away the smiley face the look was almost a dead ringer for Shadow Stalker, sans crossbow. That wasn't going to fly.

I stood, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I understand that you haven't chosen a cape name yet, so for now I'm just going to refer to you by your temporary designation if that's alright?" I asked. "That's fine, but ah, what is my temporary designation? No one told me." The girl and I both sat back down, and then with a string of pops, my office was host to a trio of little flying lizards. Why had no one mentioned to me that the girl had pet dragons? If they were well behaved children would love this girl.

I reached out a hand for one of the little creatures to sniff as it landed on my desk. "Your temporary designation is SI, it's short for self insert according to the note in your file. Now, who are these three and how well behaved are they?"

"The one sniffing your hand is Diver, Rocky is the one sniffing the trashcan and this is Beauty." SI told me as she scratched at the little golden creature that rested on her shoulder. I noticed that underneath the cloak she was only wearing normal clothes, another sign of a rushed costume, and all muted colors, interesting. "They're pretty well behaved as long as you are calm with them." Well that ruled out large groups of children, still for small groups they could be great.

I jotted down a few notes. "OK well first things first, you need a name and costume, where do you want to start." The girl rubbed absentmindedly at Beauty's head for a moment before answering.

"Can we start with the costume?" I smiled, need to make the girl feel comfortable or this would drag on far longer than it needed too.

"Of course, first thing I'm going to need is for you to ditch the cloak. You can keep your mask, but I need to get a general idea for your body type and size before we can start."

SI seemed to visibly shrink into herself as she very slowly stood and removed the cloak. Clearly she was suffering from body image issues if she felt more confident and comfortable hiding under a cloak. She had a little bit of a bulge around her stomach. We would need to avoid spandex until the Wards exercise regimen had time to burn that off of her. I took out a tape measure and proceeded to get the girls measurements for later.

As soon as we had finished she practically threw the cloak back on before visibly relaxing. I had the distinct feeling I was going to need to incorporate that cloak into her new costume somehow. Still though, based on her power she would need an all purpose costume, two of the powers she had right now required a freedom of movement that the cloak would only impair. And she still needed to change up the color scheme.

{}{}{}{}

It had taken almost forty minutes of back and forth negotiating but I think we were both happy with the final design. For leggings we had chosen loose fitting martial arts pants in blue with a white line running up the outside of the pants legs. For the upper body she would have a long sleeve shirt in blue, again with the white stripe running up the outside of the arms. That would go over a Kevlar vest.

Over all of that she would wear a hooded cloak made out of a thin layer of Kevlar. The cloak would fall to her waistline, it would be blue and the bottom edge would be trimmed in white. The edge of the cloak would house a small device that caused the cloak to fold itself up against her back with the press of a button. This would keep it out of the way during any fights, and leave her arms free as well as provide an extra layer of protection for her spine.

Her hood and mask we would keep. As with the rest they would be blue, and rather than the circles for eyes she had painted onto her first version, we would give it two inverted V's to serve as eyebrows for the happy emote face. Completing the happy face look would be a pair of clear circular goggles.

"You're sure this won't be too goofy looking?" SI asked.

"It's a little silly, but I think that's a good thing. This might be a serious job, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the work, or that you shouldn't have any fun. Look at Mouse Protector. She runs around acting like a character from a silver age comic, but she still managed to rise all the way up to team leader. If you want a closer to home example we've got Clockblocker and Assault. Those two are always ready to crack a joke. It's OK to have fun so long as you do a good job." I gave the girl my most reassuring smile

SI nodded to herself, "OK so how about name's. SI's nice and all but what other options do I have?

"Well I have a few ideas in mind, how do you feel about a Shakespeare reference?"

{}{}{}{}

Panacea

Vicky and I had finished cleaning up the dishes from breakfast and I was getting ready to head over to the hospital. I was putting it off by drawing out finishing up my homework. How sad was it that I had something in my life I hated doing more than homework? The trig problem was really starting to annoy me when Vicky knocked on the frame of my open door. "Ames there's a phone call for you, it's director Piggot."

I scowled, "What does she want?" Vicky was trying and failing to hide a smirk behind a mask of nonchalance.

"Oh, she said something about a new Ward, apparently they have a healing power."

"WHAT?!" A new healer, in the Wards, this was fantastic! Finally I'd have someone to help ease the load, someone I could really talk to about all the crap that came with my kind of power. "Give me the phone Vicky." Smiling she handed it over.

"Hello, director Piggot, this is Panacea."

"Excellent, miss Dallon, I'll get straight to the point. We have a new Ward who will be making their debut in a week. We believe she may have a healing power though it remains untested. After her debut we would like for her to accompany you on one of your hospital trips so that you can observe her power and help us discover any limitations or drawbacks. Would you be willing to cooperate with us on this? We'd be willing to pay you a consultant fee."

I couldn't believe it, there really was a new healer. Finally I wouldn't be on my own anymore. "Of course, have someone contact me with a date and I'll let them know what hospital I plan to be at."

"Thank you miss Dallon, your cooperation is appreciated, have a good day." With that the director hung up. I handed the phone back to Vicky, feeling dazed and hopeful for the first time in weeks.

"So, excited to meet the new kid?" She asked with a smile.

"You have no idea."

{}{}{}{}

Missy

Taylor is a genius.

Apparently she had felt really bad about her power not letting me earth bend. So she kept trying to figure out how to use my power as fake earth bending. Most of her early ideas had failed, but this one was gold.

She apparently got the idea from Carlos who had been explaining more common attacks from games and movies. One of those attacks was meteor shower, or something like that. Taylor had explained the concept as dropping rocks that were traveling at high speed onto people, and I could pull it off.

By compressing space horizontally and vertically above me and throwing something up I could launch rocks hundreds of feet into the air and guide them down directly on top of the bad guys! With this trick I could even bypass most cover. Piggot had given me the go ahead to practice the move but didn't want me using it in the field against non brutes, at least not until I got better at controlling the force.

That was OK, I'd master this trick and then the boys would have to show me the same respect Taylor did. They would have to admit how awesome I really am.

{}{}{}{}

Dennis

Taylor is awesome. She has a sense of humor and great powers. Even if she wasn't exactly cute or pretty there was something about her. Grateful for my full face mask I took the chance to admire her as she walked up to the podium for her official debut. Still I knew better than to get my hopes up. Despite what people say, being funny didn't really seem to get the girls attention. I'm a cape. On that basis alone I should have fan girls. Not that I could actually take advantage of that without outing myself, but still.

No, I knew from experience, girls on the message boards might talk about how I was the funny one, or wonder if I was cute under the mask, but when we were out in public, the girls never gave me a second glance. Why would they? I was on the same team as Gallant, Aegis, and Triumph, all of whom had a lot more muscle than I do. I liked them all well enough, but I knew I wouldn't get the time of day with them around. So yeah, I didn't have a chance with Taylor. Still though, I could at least appreciate the view.

Taylor gripped the sides of the Podium, back straight, head held high. Beauty was resting on her shoulder, while Rocky and Diver flew lazy circles above her head. "People of Brockton Bay, my name is Player. Shakespeare once wrote; 'all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players'. While I wear this costume that is my name, and my role is to protect all of you from harm." she spread her arms out wide to encompass the audience as her half cloak folded up over her back. "I do this gladly. It is a part I have always wanted to play, so I will always come to save you, and what's more I'll do so with a smile!"

With that last line she jerked her head up a little higher too show off the white smile I knew was painted across the front of her mask. The audience laughed a bit and cheered before reporters started to shout over one another to ask questions. I tuned them out. I was too busy enjoying the sight of the girl, who I just knew, was bursting with joy.


	18. 3-1

Grind 3.1 Catch Them All?

Dennis sat on my right, with his hand clamped onto my shoulder. It took me five minutes to convince him not to tape his hand there. It was pretty funny how he rambled about what if he twitched at the wrong moment and accidently let go of my shoulder before the game started. Though I could do without his fingernails digging into what little muscle I had.

"Dennis, if you grip my shoulder any harder you're going to leave a bruise." Looking sheepish he relaxed his grip a bit.

"Sorry, I just don't want to get left behind."

"I know, I heard you the first ten times. Now just relax, alright?" Dennis nodded looking mollified.

"OK so Pokémon right? Which one, this thing has at least a dozen?" I asked waving the little game system with my left hand.

"The classic of course, you want either Red or Blue." Dennis said as he intently stared at his shoes, he was hiding something.

"Dennis what aren't you telling me." I asked, fixing him with my best stern expression. The resulting fidget from my teammate confirmed my suspicions. I was torn about that. Honestly I was annoyed that he would try to manipulate me. On the other hand, having friends I knew well enough to catch in the act of trying to slip something past me was awesome, especially after the past few years.

Dennis sighed. "Alright, alright, the main character is a guy. I know you'd rather stick to girls but if you're going to play Pokemon you should play the original." Huh, I had run into plenty of literary purists online, not to mention my Mom, people who always sided with the book over the movie, things like that. I'd never thought people might have similar feelings about video games before.

"OK look I get what you're saying, really I do. But you said that even if we run through this game as fast as we can were going to be at this for at least a day. Dennis," I paused starring him straight in the eye making sure I had his attention. "I do not want to spend an entire day walking around with the wrong kind of anatomy. Now, do any of these games have the option for a female protagonist?"

Looking abashed Dennis nodded. "Yeah, OK, I get that. Well, we still want to stick with the original feel, so I guess the next best thing is the remakes. That means Fire Red or Leaf Green." Scrolling down the list I found Fire Red and started it up on the small screen. Selecting the female for the main character I named her Taylor, no reason to get complicated about this after all. Still feeling slightly annoyed with Dennis I decided to give my rival his name.

As the little cartoon scientist in his lab coat told me that my very own adventure was about to begin the familiar sensation of being dragged pulled at my hands. As the sensation crept its way along my arm I closed my eyes, Dennis yelped in surprise. As the sensation faded I opened my eyes to the black room, what I saw though caught me off guard. The wall of lights was almost baron. Only two lights greeted us in the blackness, our names written beneath them.

Dennis swore under his breath. "Great, just great, I was supposed to take the role of your starting pokemon so I could feed you advice as we go. Without that this could take way longer."

"Dennis relax, it's not the end of world. This can't possibly be as bad as Mario." I hope. "Though I'd really, really rather have company for this." I said frowning.

Dennis nodded. "You're telling me. At least you'll be running around doing stuff, I'm going to be stuck at different spots just waiting for you to get to me."

"Look, normally I can go off script a bit. Just try to stick around, we may get lucky." I really hoped we would. I really hated the idea of doing this alone. "Come on, we might as well get started."

With that we walked up to our respective lights and reached forward. Just before I touched mine I heard Dennis say, "Let the games begin." My nervous laugh was choked off as I found myself in a slightly pixilated room, wearing a big sun hat. I wanted to call it goofy, but honestly it looked pretty good. I'd have to think about buying one, once we go out of here.

I looked around the room. The game system and television didn't really respond to my poking at them, the computer on the other hand had a folder I could access. Clicking on the item marked potion a little purple spray bottle materialized on the desk next to the computer. That was, different. I put the bottle away in my bag and headed downstairs and outside.

The area was small, not even large enough to call a town. One large building and a few houses, the locals didn't seem to have anything interesting to say. I decided to skip searching the buildings for people and instead headed off to start exploring. Just as I stepped into the grass Professor Oak showed up to and dragged me off to his lab.

"Taylor there you are. Been waiting here for like five minutes already, bout time you got here." Dennis greeted me. Rolling my eyes I shot back, "Yeah well I'm here now so what's next."

Professor Oak interrupted our conversation telling me to pick a pokemon. "That." Dennis said with a goofy grin. I stuck out my tong and headed over to the table on which three red and white spheres sat.

"So which one should I take?"

After an uncomfortably long silence I spoke up again. "Dennis, which one should I take."

"Well, Bulbasaur has the type advantage against the first three gyms, so it lets you blow past them. It would probably be the fastest way out of here, as long as the rest of your team balances well."

"Which one is Bulbasaur." I asked peering into the orbs. Each one contained a little creature a red lizard a blue turtle and a green, plant, toad, thing. "The Green one with the plant on its back." Dennis answered.

Reaching out I touched the ball.

Professor Oak said something I didn't pay too much attention too. I held the ball up in front of my face too get a better look at my new partner. Big intelligent eyes looked back at me, the turtle may have been cuter but I had the distinct feeling this was the right choice. I moved to step back and suddenly Dennis rushed the table and scooped up one of the remaining two balls. "Which means I get Charmander!" Dennis crowed as the balls we had selected shrank to about the size of baseball. Dennis lifted his to his lips and gave it a dramatic kiss. "This is going to be the best! You and I little pall! Even if we have to lose in the end we'll give her a good fight every step of the way, wont we!"

Shaking my head I started to head out of the building. "Come on Dennis we should get going, this is probably going to take forever so there's no sense in wasting time."

"Hold on Taylor, lets battle! And no I'm not just saying that. We actually have to battle now."

"What really?"

"Of course, that's how this works. Hey did you get the potion out of your PC?"

"Yeah, I've got it right here in my bag. Why?"

"Because, using that potion is the easiest way to win this fight. The pokemon are basically even right now and the rival usually gets in the first hit, so you have to use that to heal your pokemon when its health gets low. If you do that you should win. Now fallow my lead, Charmander I choose you!" Dennis threw the ball in front of him. Out popped a little red lizard with a flaming tale. The ball bounced back to Dennis's hand.

"OK then, Bulbasaur, go, I guess."

The battle that followed was far from an epic clash of the titans. In fact it could be aptly summarized as Dennis shouting scratch where as I yelled tackle. Really it was kind of lame. I mean watching them fight was a bit cool but I could already tell that the endless repetition was going to get old.

After I won Dennis, following his lines, said something vaguely rude about smelling me latter, actually it was kind of creepy, and then he ran out. Crap, I really hoped he'd be able to stick around after the fight but I guess I really was on my own here. As I made my way out of the lab and into the sunlight I sighed. This wasn't how I wanted things to go.

"Hey Taylor!" Dennis shouted in my ear. No matter what Dennis says, I did not scream, nope, absolutely not.

"So, looks like I have to run off screen after our battles, but seems like I can still stick around and give you advice! This is great we are going to have such an awesome time. First we need to get you a Pikachu, because it's basically a must. There are other electric types, but we won't be able to get to them for awhile and by then they'd be a bit behind on EV's, which is totally different from Eevee. The first is an abbreviation for something, forget what, but basically every time your pokemon win a fight they get a few extra of these hidden points which add up after awhile. You want them, trust me. The latter is this really adorable pokemon, you'll get one latter, don't worry about it for now. Then we have to fight Brock and get you a Magikarp from the team Rocket guy and go through mount moon and!"

"Dennis! Holly crap. Breath, we'll get to everything, not like we're getting out anytime soon. God, just, slow down, alright?"

Blushing, Dennis mumbled an apology and shoved his hands into his pockets. Crap, maybe I was a bit harsh. I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, look I'm sorry, just way too much information, way too fast. Now come on, I need your help, where do we go first, and what's a Pikachu?"

Dennis took a deep breath before nodding and flashing that brilliant smile of his. "Right, this way, were heading out of town. Pikachu's an electric pokemon it's pretty cool not a power house but still…"

Dennis continued to chatter away. I tried to pay attention, it was information I needed to know. Still I felt like I was only getting half of it. Oh well, I'd have plenty of time, after all this was going to take awhile.


	19. 3-2

Grind 3.2 Grinding Away

Those big intelligent eyes were a lie. It only took Dennis and I maybe a half hour to figure that out. I think we both wanted to ignore it. But around the time I caught my first Pokemon, a Pikachu, I needed to address it.

"They aren't really there, you know? It's like the lights are on but no one's home. I feel like I'm giving instructions to a Robot." I looked to Dennis, begging him to tell me I was wrong.

"Yeah, I get it. They attack and aim but there expressions don't change, and they don't give any sign that they even understand what's happening. Heck even when their health drops down to almost nothing they just keep that same expression on their faces, like nothing even matters."

"It's creepy." I said.

"Yeah, this isn't really any fun. I'm sorry, I never thought it would be like this, the games were always so much fun, you know? As a kid I could spend hours lost in my imagination, and the original game, just thinking about what it would be like. It sounds weird but I'd actually get attached to the Pokemon." Dennis leaned back against a tree, and slid down to sit on the ground.

"If you sank enough time into it you would start to pick up on patterns in the random crap. Sometimes one Pokemon would be better at throwing off effects like confusion or sleep, some could take hits that would have flattened another member of your party. Some would hit with powerful but inaccurate moves more often than you would think chance could explain. Ha, strip away all the imagination and this is what's left. Blank faced looks and obedient drones. God, the show made it all seem so much more alive."

I honestly didn't know what to say. Dennis had started out so excited, we had only been doing this for a little while but he was already so, depressed by it all. I couldn't really disagree with anything he was saying either. It's true, the Pokemon are nothing but drones.

"You know, I think back on all the times I played these games, and I can remember things I was so proud of, just seven or eight years ago. There was my first starter, a Squirtle, I raised it to level one hundred. It could beat the entire elite four, and my rival single handed, without using any potions or anything to heal it along the way. I had a Graveler that wrecked everything. I lost it in a trade with a jerk I used to be friends with, ended up resetting the game when he wouldn't trade back after. I had this Kingler, giant crab right. Well that thing was the biggest surprise of all, it could take a hell of a beating, and it would just keep on going." Dennis paused to take a deep breath he let out as a sigh.

"I always knew they were numbers in a machine, or that characters in a book are just words on a page, but if you prop them up with enough imagination they take on a life of their own, and it's like you know them. Fuck, would you listen to me? I sound like some philosopher trying to find meaning in life or some crap. Guess that proves it then, you should never meet your heroes." Dennis trailed off with a self depreciating little chuckle.

"Pokemon were your heroes?" Crap. That came out condescending didn't it? Damn it I know better than this. I'm supposed to be better than this. I can't just go around being a jerk to my teammates or…

Dennis cut off my train of thought by laughing. Not the dry, humorless thing I'd heard a moment ago, a real full laugh.

"No, no not that kind of hero, just..." Dennis trailed off making a vague gesture with one hand. "It's like losing part of a childhood fantasy, you know? Like, when your parents tell you Santa isn't real. It's sad and a little hard to swallow at first, but then you don't really have any choice except to just move on."

"Yeah, yeah I get that." I remember that sensation, the feeling that I had lost something I could never quite get back. I wanted it back, wanted to believe. But the magic was already gone, worse it had never even existed in the first place. And just knowing that made the whole it left seem a little surreal.

I offered Dennis a hand up. "Come on Dennis, it might not be what you wanted, but we still need to see this through." Dennis gave me a halfhearted grin and took my hand, letting me haul him back onto his feet.

"Right then Taylor, they may not be lovable companions, but we can still enjoy the strategy of it all! Come on we'll stomp a few trainers to level up your Pokemon, then if you can beat me in a battle you'll be more than ready to take on the first gym."

{}{}{}{}

Dennis and I sat comfortably on some cushion, chair, things in a Pokemon Center next to the entrance to a cave Dennis called Mount Moon.

"Listen Taylor you have plenty of cash trust me you want to buy this Pokemon." Dennis said.

"Dennis you just told me that it's a useless fish that can't even attack until you get it to level fifteen why would I want one?"

"Because they evolve into Gyaradose, and Gyaradose is one of the toughest Pokemon in the game."

"Dennis from what you've told me they all have that kind of potential if you raise them right and fight smart."

Why, of all the things to be stubborn about, why did he have to be stubborn about this? It would take forever to level up the stupid fish! Dennis had told me so flat out! But he's so convinced this was the way to go about it. Pokemon is his favorite game, he knows it inside and out, and he's convinced this is the way to go.

"Alright Dennis, I'll raise the fish, on one condition." Dennis froze half way out of his seat before he could launch into what I assume was going to be a victory dance.

Dennis slid back into his seat with a cautious look. "What do you want?"

Leaning back I grinned triumphantly. "I want to pick out a cute Pokemon for my party." Hah, he'd never agree to this. He was way too focused on getting together the strongest team possible. Now he would have to let go of this crazy idea and we could hurry up and move on, without wasting our time raising a pointless fish.

"Deal." Wait, what?! "There's a rare-ish Pokemon that we can find in Mount Moon that looks pretty cute. We can raise your Magikarp a bit while we look for one, and if you don't like that one there are a few others I can think of."

Crap…

{}{}{}{}

I hate my Magikarp. Ten levels, ten levels of grinding up a fish that couldn't even attack properly. It slowed everything down. I was getting to the point where I was about ready to just abandon the poor thing too put it out of my misery. But no, Dennis insisted that it would be worth it that once it evolved everything would get easier.

I don't know why, but I trusted him. Now, watching as Magikarp started to glow, as evolution started? I was excited. Dennis refused to tell me about the evolved form instead telling me to wait and see. Finally I would find out what all…. the…. hype…..

Damn it Dennis.

"Dennis?" I asked, my voice sickeningly sweet.

"Um, yeah Taylor?"

"Tell me something Dennis, how much would a Gyarados need to eat, per day, because he looks big enough to eat as much a small whale."

"I umm I'm not really sure, why does it.."

"Yes Dennis, it most certainly does matter. Tell me Dennis, how happy would the director be if on top of the food budget for four or five cow sized creatures she also had to pay to feed this guy?" I asked in my most dangerous tone of voice.

Dennis seamed to visibly pail at the thought. "That's what I thought. Dennis, we just wasted how much time grinding levels to raise this thing and there is no way I can risk taking him home with us. You get that right? And on top of that it means we need to train up an entirely new Pokemon from scratch!"

"Taylor! No, you can't just ditch a Gyarados! It was my entire argument for this game in the first place. If we don't get some heavy fire power the director is going to be pissed, at me!" The note of panic in Dennis voice actually made this a little bit amusing, but mostly I was still pissed at him for not thinking this through.

"Well then Dennis, I guess you'll just have to think up another Pokemon with the same kind of fire power." I gave Dennis a pat on the shoulder as I walked past him. "Now come on lets go ditch this thing in the PC and-"

"Taylor, no, come on. At least use him until we can get you another water Pokemon. Trust me he'll be a big help going through this stupid cave after you beat the third gym."

That, actually made sense. But then I'd be throwing XP at a Pokemon that wouldn't be a permanent part of the team. That would be a waste. It was a load of crap, but it did make sense in a really annoying sort of way to keep it around if only so that I wouldn't be fighting with just three Pokemon. "Fine, he stays, for now." I fixed Dennis with a pointed glare as I said 'for now.'

Dennis pumped his fist into the air. "Awesome! Now next stop is the S.S. Anne! And I finally get to battle with you again. Remember to lead with Pikachu because the rival always starts with his bird Pokemon."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember."

{}{}{}{}

I did in fact remember to lead with Pikachu. I did in fact nock out Dennis's Pidgeoto. What I did not do was pay attention to the name of the Pokemon he was sending out next. Which is how my Ivysaur ended up defeated by his Charmeleon.

From there things spirlad out of control, somehow leaving me with only Clefary against three, mostly healthy, Pokemon. In short I was screwed.

Right up until I wasn't.

"This. Is. Bullcrap." Dennis deadpanned, as my adorable little Clefary beat his last Pokemon unconscious.

"You used minimize once. Once, and just from that I only manage to land what, a hit per Pokemon? What is this nonsense!"

Trying not to laugh I very calmly pointed out, "Well charm helped out a lot too, you know? Maybe if some of your Pokemon where female you wouldn't have lost." Dennis just waved me past saying he needed to get to the Pokemon Center. I think he might be a bit annoyed with me but I suspect he'll get over it soon enough. He seems to to bounce back quickly.

{}{}{}{}

"OK, explain this to me, one more time." I said.

"It's like a pet cemetery. Only it's a tower, and it's haunted by ghost Pokemon and the ghost of a Pokemon slight difference. If you want to fight those you need, the Sylph Scope. But before that if you want we can have a battle in there without running into the ghost Pokemon."

"That's kind of weird." I said adjusting my sun hat. It was funny, it was such a little thing, and no one ever seemed to wear these anymore, but I was really starting to love this hat.

"Little bit yeah, but no more than anything else around here. So what'll it be, battle now or later?"

I was sick of battling. We had already been at this for what must have been 12 hours. I think. I know I lost more than an hour of that arguing with Dennis, particularly about the stupid cave we had just left. Apparently as a kid Dennis had never learned about the move flash and had found his way through the cave in total darkness. Which was stupid, it was completely stupid. He had failed to get through the cave and had to start over so many times that he now knew it by heart. Eventually I forced him to tell me where I could find flash and we made our way through the cave with actual light, like intelligent people.

Which brings me back to the question at hand, battle Dennis, or go off and battle someone else. I wasn't physically tired, but I was starting to feel the need for a break from all the battling. On the other hand Dennis was probably going out of his mind with boredom. If I was getting sick of the endless battles Dennis had to be twice as sick of watching them.

"OK Dennis, let's battle but then we need to find a spot to take a break, any thoughts?"

Dennis seemed to perk up twice at that, first at the mention of a battle and then again at the mention of a break. "Yeah, I know the perfect place! The town with the next gym battle is the only real city in the game. We can head there next, check it out, see the sights, and pick up a few Pokemon without the hassle of capturing them. Yeah we'll head there next."

Oh thank God. There really was something to do other than battle endless waves of Pokemon. As we had been talking we had made our way into the tower and up to the first floor facing off against each other Dennis gave me an extremely serious look. He leaned up against a nearby wall, one hand clenched over his stomach; the other held a pokeball out as if he was warding me off.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my Raticate. Prepare to die."

Dennis was paraphrasing The Princess Bride, one of the best movies in existence. It's the sort of movie that despite the title had something for everyone. Guy or girl, young or old, none of that matter when it came to movies like The Princess Bride, because there was something for everyone. That's when I had my epiphany.

"Movie Night."

"Umm what?" Dennis asked, abandoning his dramatic pose.

"We're having a Wards movie night, we're going to use my power, and we're going to watch The Princess Bride."

"Ughh, but Taylor,"

"Nope, Dennis you don't get to argue, this is happening and that's that."

"But,"

"Dennis, this is going to happen. I will make it happen, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Now, would you kindly start the battle so we can go explore the city?" I asked sweetly.

For some reason the last sentence seamed to make Dennis go pale before hastily nodding and throwing his first Pokemon. I barely gave the battle any attention, I was far too focused on deciding who should play what role.


	20. 3-3

Grind 3.3 Wall of Wonder

Celadon City is quaint. It has a few big buildings, a gym, a casino, with an underground secret lair. Well OK, so maybe it isn't exactly quaint. Still it was a welcome break, from the never ending stream of battles. Besides they had a fountain, that counts for something, maybe.

"So, you want me, to sink almost all of my money into buying coins for the slot machines. But I shouldn't actually play the slot machines?" I asked.

"Yup. See with the coins you can go next door and get items to boost the attack power of water, grass, and fire moves. Not only that, you can trade the coins in for Pokemon. The one you want is Dratini. In its final evolution it is one of the games toughest Pokemon, like Gyarados only smaller, and you can fly on its back."

"Is it going to be as much of a pain to train as the last Pokemon you told me to buy?"

"Well, it shouldn't be that bad, though it is going to be under leveled."

Why me?

{}{}{}{}

The view from the top of the Department store was really quite impressive. The tea I'd bought from the vending machine was a relief, not needing to eat, drink or go to the bathroom sounds nice on paper. However the lack of those day to day necessities is fairly unsettling.

Dennis leaned back against the railing looking up at the sky swirling a half empty soda bottle in his hand.

"I never thought about what the sky would look like." He said.

Glancing up I took in endless field of light blue just above our heads.

"I mean, there isn't any night just constant daytime. No clouds, and no sun either. It's just a solid sheet of light blue. It's weird."

I nodded before taking another sip of my tea, savoring the hint of lemon before I answered. "Yeah, still this is better than Mario where all the clouds where pixilated." Dennis responded with a noncommittal grunt.

"So, when you said there was stuff to do around here to unwind…"

"Yeah, this was it. We can go talk to the people who designed the game, they broke the fourth wall and added themselves, not all that interesting really."

"Fourth wall?"

"Yeah, you break it when one of the characters knows the world is not real. So having the people who programmed the game asking if you enjoy it is a good way to break it."

"Huh, well learn something new every day."

Rolling my shoulders I stood up straight and glanced over at Dennis. The boy didn't look much like himself right now, what with the spiky brown hair, and dark eyes. At least his happy go lucky attitude is back though. Dennis had been bouncing between excited and gloomy for the first couple of hours but he seemed to have leveled out and was making the most of the experience. I was just glad I didn't have to deal with gloomy Gary anymore. It was a stupid joke, a really stupid joke, but I laughed anyway.

The look Dennis shot me just made me laugh harder. Once I got my breathing under control I just shook my head. "Nothing, doesn't matter." Shrugging and shooting me a grin Dennis launched into what he claimed to be the Pokemon theme song, again. I take it back, at least when he was gloomy he hadn't been singing.

"You teach me, and I'll teach you. Pokemon!"

Groaning I chucked my empty bottle at him. Naturally the infuriating spiky haired menace ducked under the bottle and continued to sing.

"Dennis, why don't we split up for awhile?" I like Dennis, really I do. Despite that, after spending the better part of the day with him I needed a break, for my sanity if nothing else.

"Why on earth would we do something like that? I'm your fearless guide, and knowledgeable instructor! And you are my apprentice! Together we travel across the land, searching far and wide! Dun, dun, da, da! To catch them is our real test, too train them is our cause!"

My 'knowledgeable instructor' said breaking out in song for the umpteenth time.

"How about because I cannot stand anymore of your singing." I shot back "Or how about because at this point I really just need to grind levels. There really isn't anything I need your help with right now. Just go for a walk, see the sights, go for a swim. I'll be around, I can't imagine it would be all that hard to find me if you wanted." Please say yes, I cannot stand any more singing.

Dennis put his hands behind his head and shot me a sheepish grin. "Well when you put it that way, I guess I really should let you just do what you want. I've probably been a bit of a backseat gamer, which is kind of a dick thing to do. So sure, I'll go take a hike, I'll meet up with you at the safari zone, maybe try riding a Tourus or something." Spinning on his heal he headed for the stairs leading down from the roof. "Catch you later Taylor."

{}{}{}{}

As I made my way toward the fourth gym I found Dennis holding a one sided conversation with a creepy old man. The two of them just looking through the front window of the gym. I quietly slipped up behind him.

"You know old guy, it's weird, but I sort of see what you mean. The girls in the gym are all kind of cute, but then they are all sort of cheesy cartoon cute. Granted everyone here is a cheesy cartoon so I get why you would like it, but it's all so… fake. Yeah, fake." Dennis nodded to himself as if he had just said something extremely profound.

"Really Dennis, you don't say." I deadpanned, from right behind Dennis, causing him to jump.

"Taylor! Umm hi, this is ughh… I should go." And with that Dennis took off, my laughter chasing after him."

{}{}{}{}

Dennis pushed his way through the tall grass leading me through the Safari zone.

"Sooo did you ever ride that Pokemon like you said you would?" We'd been split up for hours, and I had to admit I was curious to find out what he had been doing to keep busy.

"Well I tried to. But it did not go according to plan."

"What does that mean?"

"Well the way the game is working with your power is weird, especially in here. You know how the wild Pokemon just pop up in front of us out of thin air all the time? Well in here Pokemon can run away and you are supposed to either throw food, rocks, or Pokeballs. Since we don't really have to follow the normal rules I can chase after them and try to jump on." Dennis stopped, and scratched at the back of his head. "They can run, and if they run they disappear after just a few steps. Every time I try to grab one, they just vanish. I actually managed to jump on back of a Rhydon at one point, but…."

"But, what? Come on Dennis you can tell me."

"It vanished, went poof. I ended up flat on my face." He grumbled.

It was really hard not to laugh at that, but I managed.

"What about you Taylor, how's your party coming along?"

"It's coming. Still need a new water type, but I have a Flareon now so I've got fire covered."

Dennis frowned at me over his shoulder. "Please tell me you are kidding."

"Umm, I'm not, why?" Honestly, what unknown rule had I unwittingly broken this time?

Dennis groaned rubbing at his eyes. "It's not that Flareon is a bad Pokemon, not exactly anyway. It has OK stats and it knows a few good physical attacks but in terms of actual fire moves, it sucks. Really, all it knows is fire spin, not exactly a power house."

Shit, I needed a fire type not really badly but still having one would help a lot. "Shit. Please tell me this does not mean what I think it means."

Dennis just shook his head. "Sorry Taylor, I'd recommend dropping it and training a Growlith instead. Check your Pokedex when we get out of here, and you can go get one to train up. As for water types… maybe a shelder. It knows some good ice moves so it is a good match up against dragon Pokemon."

"Two Pokemon I have to train up from scratch, again. Dennis, I know you like this game, but I'm starting to hate it."

{}{}{}{}

"I won! We can finally get out of here!" Dennis shook his head with a goofy grin plastered all over his face.

"Congratulations Taylor, way to go, you have triumphed over an opponent who cannot train his minions past a certain point and that you can easily predict because you were told exactly which Pokemon he was about to use."

"Oh shut up, I bet you ran around your room shouting the first time you beet this." I said sticking out my tong.

Just then Professor oak practically ran up to Dennis and I.

"Taylor! So, you won! Congratulations! You're the new Pokémon League champion! You've grown up so much since you first left with Bulbasaur! Taylor, you have come of age! Dennis! I'm disappointed! I came when I heard you beat the Elite Four! But, when I got here, you had already lost! Dennis! Do you understand why you lost? You have forgotten to treat your Pokémon with trust and love! Without them, you will never become a champ again! Taylor! You understand that your victory was not just your own doing! The bond you share with your Pokémon is marvelous! Taylor! Come with me!"

Before I could comment on what a jerk Oak was being to his own Grandson Oak dragged me along into the next room. After another short speech I felt the all too familiar tug at my arms. Just as I started to shout my victory I found myself not in the PRT testing room where Dennis and I had first started but instead I found myself in the black room. Rather than the annotated lights I was looking at rows and columns of words. Some of the blurbs shined white, others in blue, and one green.

"Taylor, what's all this?" Dennis asked from right behind me. "I don't know Dennis, this never happened before."

I walked up to the wall and started to read.

A Spell for Chameleon

Bink: Cannot be harmed by powers or the products of powers. Meant to be subtle and shape events with as little effort as possible.

Dragonsong

Menolly: Small hybrid creature, limited telepathic/empathic link to bonded individual.

Super Mario Brothers

Mario: Eating mushrooms causes' growth, suffering injury reverses growth. Eating flowers enables fire balls.

Luigi: Eating mushrooms causes' growth, suffering injury reverses growth. Eating flowers enables fire balls.

Princess Peach: No Powers.

Toad: No Powers.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Katara: Hydrokinisis controlled partly through body motions. Ability to heal physical injury. Ability to reverse the effects of mental contamination.

Toph: Ability to manipulate earth and metal partly through body motions. Ability to sense and interpret vibrations through earth and metal.

Iroh: Ability to create and manipulate fire, partly through body motions.

Pokemon Fire Red

Taylor: A randomized projection of one of the creatures from the game's final party.

Dennis: A randomized projection of one of the creatures from the game's final party.

"I think, I think these are my options." I mumbled.

"Your options." Dennis deadpanned. "Not only do you have a power that lets you get new powers, it now comes with options. Taylor your power is so broken."

"Dennis stop joking look at this; Luigi, Peach, Toph, Iroh, You. These are all characters other people played. If I take people with me I could double up! Every insert could mean multiple powers!"

"You're only proving my point for me, you do realize that right?" Dennis asked arching an eyebrow.

Stepping up I tapped Menolly's name. The color of the text changed to white. "I'll bet I can swap them around like this, hang on let me just see if…" stepping over to my left I tapped at Bink's name it was the only name lit up in green, that had to mean something. Unlike Menolly's tapping Bink's name seemed not to have any effect.

Shrugging I moved down the line to Avatar. "Hey Dennis do you think Vista would be upset with me if I grabbed earth bending, and metal bending, or would she just be excited to tag team people by mixing our powers?"

"Dunno but it sounds fun either way. Grab it, and then we can get out of here."

"Sure, I'll just grab it then swap Mario to hang on to my dragonets, just give me a sec." I tapped Toph's name and as the color shifted from white to blue I felt an all too familiar tug on my wrist.

"No, wait I need too…"

Then we were out, back in the PRT power testing lab.

I need to find my dragonets. I need to find my friends.


	21. 3-4

Grind 3.4

I bolted from where I stood, grabbing a nearby trooper by his shoulders and shaking him. "My dragons, where are they?"

The man obviously taken aback only managed to stutter out his response. "I-wha, I don't know. Please I'm supposed to de- hey wait!" The trooper called out as I ran from the room. If he didn't know where my dragonets where then I would just have to look. Besides Dennis could fill the people in on what had happened.

A quick look at a wall clock reveled that it was early, a little after three in the morning. We had left late Friday after the press conference, around seven if memory served. I was certain that we had spent more than just one day in Pokemon. That would make this Monday morning.

Part of me realized that school today was going to be a miserable experience given I hadn't slept. The rest of me was more concerned with the fact I couldn't sense the empathic link I shared with my friends. Normally if they were nearby I could catch at least of hint of their emotions, and they mine.

The fact that my friends had not already jumped between to find me was worrying to say the least. If I was being honest with myself it chilled me to the bone. I needed to find them quickly and I was less than sure where to start. I had told them to stay on the base, that way the PRT and my fellow Wards could keep an eye on them. The secretary I had met during my initial visit and Missy being the first to jump at the chance to keep my little darlings company.

Thinking about it logically, there are only three places I might find my dragonets. They could be at the front desk where the woman worked, the kitchen in hopes of getting fed first thing in the morning as I had arranged, or most likely the Wards common room.

Making my decision I took off for the elevators, the shouts of the trooper and Dennis following me. For the first time since I had joined I was grateful for the wasteful tinker tech elevator. It was certainly an obscene waste of resources, but it was fast, right now that was all that mattered to me.

As the doors slid open I sprinted for the door to the common room and the retina scanner built into the wall. The two second delay between the scan and the door opening seemed to last an eternity, but finally the last obstacle between me and where I hoped to find my friends slid away.

They were there, slouched together in a piles of wings, claws and leathery hides in the topmost 'room' of the cat castle the PRT had installed for them. I could even hear the little snuffling snort Diver made in his sleep.

The tension drained out of me like physical wave as I slumped with my back to the cold metal wall. They were safe. They were still here. I wasn't going to be left alone again. They had not left me.

I spent the next few minutes just watching their sides rise and fall as they slept. Still something was wrong. My friends had always responded to my emotions in the past. With how panicked I had been they should have woken up.

I did not want to get up and check on them, I just wanted to sit right where I was and pretend that everything was alright. I could not though. These were my friends, the fact that I had not accidently killed them was a relief that words were unable to express, however they were still my responsibility and I owed it to them to make sure that no real harm had been done.

Standing up I tentatively walked across the room. Stealing my nerves I reached out and picked up Beauty. She didn't even fidget in my hands. "Beauty, wake up my darling, please wake up." Nothing. Bouncing the little dragon in my arms the way one would sooth a crying baby also failed to achieve anything.

"Beauty please, I need you to wake up, please?" my voice was pleading but I could not stop to worry about that now I needed to fix this. Taking a deep breath I tried to calm myself down. They are alive, they are OK, just asleep. I could work with this, they did not seem to be in any danger, I just needed to get back to the black room and swap them back in as one of my active powers. Then they would be just fine, they had to be.

The quiet sound of the door sliding open on well oiled rollers alerted me to Dennis's arrival. "Are they OK?" the red head asked.

Taking another deep breath to steady myself I nodded. "They're alright, but they won't wake up. I need to get back to the black room and swap something out for them."

Dennis nodded as he crossed the room and ever so gently lifted Beauty out of my arms, cradling her to his chest he tickled at her exposed tummy with one finger, too no effect. "OK, so we need to get you back there then. Have you ever tried to just go back to the room before?"

That had not occurred to me. I'd never had any reason to try before but I could not take the time to run through another book just to get my dragonets back, not without pissing off the director anyway. I needed to make this work, right now. "It's worth trying." Closing my eyes I focused on the tugging sensation that always accompanied entering the black room. This has to work, please let it work, I need this to work.

Then my imagination gave way to reality, the memory of the tugging sensation became a real physical sensation. My breath caught in my throat. I was afraid to open my eyes, if I opened them only to find out that my mind had played a cruel trick on me I would be crushed. What else could I do though? I needed to move forward, for them and for me.

Opening my eyes I, sagged for the second time in less than ten minutes, my wall of options was in front of me, I could fix it.

{}{}{}{}

Almost an hour since Dennis and I had left the Pokemon game we found ourselves sitting in front of a rather grumping looking man that Dennis informed me was responsible for running the PRT during the third shift hours. Beauty was curled up in my lap, Rocky was sitting on my shoulder and Dennis held Diver. Swapping out Mario for Menolly had indeed woken my friends.

Unfortunately my own chaotic emotions had driven them into a frenzy the moment I came back. It had taken the better part of a half hour to calm and reassure the fire lizards.

"Alright," the man drawled, "the director wants a report every time you pick up new powers so let's get this over with." Dennis and I nodded as the man typed away at his keyboard. "Media entered: Pokemon Fire Red. Persons that entered: Player and Clockblocker. Time spent in media: 49 hours 36 minutes. Is that all correct?"

Again Dennis and I nodded.

"Alright that just leaves a few details. Clockblocker you initially estimated that the game would take you about two days to complete. Your estimate was close but you went over your estimated max time schedule by more than seven hours. I'm going to have to ask what lead to the delay."

Shrugging Dennis responded. "Well we had to backtrack a few times which cost us a few hours, so that didn't help. Then we got to almost the end of the game and could have pushed ahead but we needed to stick around to get the most out of this particular trip by evolving a few of the Pokemon and getting them some powerful moves." The man nodded and typed away quietly for a few moments.

"Anything too add to that assessment Player?" Looking up from Beauty who I had been idly scratching I shrugged. "We didn't get physically tired, but the game was really repetitive. After awhile we got a bit of mental fatigue. We stopped off in a few of places to just relax and unwind. I think we must have spent at least an hour at the hot spring on that island." Dennis laughed quietly.

"Right I almost forgot about that. The hot spring was fantastic! Best part was being able to walk in and out without our clothes getting wet."

The trooper made another note. "OK last question then, any idea what power this resulted in, and did you learn anything new about your power?"

Grinning under my cowl I nodded my head emphatically and started to explain the latest developments about my power.

{}{}{}{}

School was, surreal. All anyone wanted to talk about was the new Ward, Player. The rumor mill was buzzing like crazy. I, and a half dozen other girls who had all been transferred in recently all fell under suspicion. My readymade and true excuse that I had gotten the transfer in order to keep Winslow highs biggest screw up ever quiet was readily accepted and people decided I probably wasn't the city's newest cape. A few people managed to connect the dots with the rumor going around about a girl from Winslow being trapped in a locker full of toxic waste.

That was not something I was happy about. It guaranteed that the whole school knew I was telling the truth about why I had been transferred, that made my cape identity safer. On the other hand the whole school now knew what had happened to me. I was much less alright with that.

Dennis stuck by me all through lunch shooting glares at anyone who tried to approach me. Jack and Jill mercifully decided not to comment on the rumors circulating about me and instead focused on speculating about my power.

"I'm telling you it has to have something to do with those little dragons she had with her! She's obviously a master. I bet they can breathe fire, or ice, or something! They have to if she actually plans to fight with them, otherwise they're nothing but dead weight!" Unfortunately even with this slightly safer topic Jack was hopelessly wrong and made me want to punch him.

Seriously what kind of idiot would I have to be to take my friends into a fire fight! If anything now that I know I can swap Menolly's power out for another without hurting them I planned to swap them out whenever I went out in costume, and leave them safe back at base.

"Jack you are forgetting to think, again." Jill chided her boyfriend. "What makes you think they are alive? They could be a projection, or an illusion, or she could have thousands of them and only brought three to the press release. You cannot just assume that they breathe fire or whatever."

Dennis laughed, throwing his head back. "She's got you there man. Or maybe she isn't a fighter at all and the little dragons have a stealth mode and turn invisible. She might be strictly recon or something." Unlike me, Dennis actually enjoyed adding to the pile of crazy guesses about my powers.

"It's really pointless to speculate." I chimed in. I had to be careful, ignoring the topic would be strange but I could not afford to tell them anything concrete about my power, without giving myself away. "The Protectorate is keeping her power quiet. The actual information on her PHO page just says 'powers unknown'. That means one of two things." I paused to bite into my sandwich.

The other three turned to look at me, I didn't often contribute in the conversations they had. I guess I surprised them.

"OK, I'll bite," Jack said, "what are the two things it could mean?"

I swallowed my food. "Well, it could mean she has a really weak power and they don't want the villains to realize what an easy target she is, or it could mean she has a really powerful or diverse power and they want the villains to underestimate her." That was close enough to the truth and it did make sense. Even without having the girl in charge of PR explain it to me I could have figured out that much.

"That makes a lot of sense." Jill said.

"But if the Protectorate is keeping her power quiet how do we find out what it is?" Jack asked.

"Don't know. After awhile the clues will start to pile up and then it'll be easier to guess." There, I effectively ended the conversation without giving anything away. I think I might be getting the hang of this.

"Well I still think they'll breathe fire!"

Or not…

{}{}{}{}

Once school got out I found myself being shuttled off to meet and learn from one of the most powerful healers on the planet, Panacea.

"Hi, you must be Player right? I'm Panacea, or Amy out of costume. Follow me, and just do your best to keep up. We are going to test out your power on a variety of types of injuries and illnesses to see how it works and interacts with different problems. Just stick close."

Just like that we were off. Panacea is direct, and brief. Not exactly what I had expected, but it seemed like she has a very professional attitude. Considering how long she has been doing this it made sense for her to have picked it up.

As we stepped into our first room a man in a cast looked at us, surprise clear on his face. As Rocky landed on the man's chest and chirped inquiringly our patient grinned.

"Hello sir, I'm Panacea and this is Player." My instructor began, before our patients cut her off mid sentence.

"Pleasure to meet you both, I'm Tom, and who is this little guy?" Tom scratched along the spine of a grateful Rocky.

"Oh, that would be Rocky." I shot the man a smile from behind my mask. Panacea, to my surprise seemed a bit annoyed at being interrupted. That is of course unless she was making that face because she had just bitten into a lemon.

Rolling her eyes she powered through the rest of what I was assuming to be a modified version of her normal speech. "Right well, Player here is a new cape and she has a healing power. We aren't sure how her power works just yet so we are looking for volunteers. Should there be any negative side effects caused by her healing I'll be here to correct them immediately, if her healing does fix the problem I still need permission to touch you so I can observe how her healing works. Should you feel uncomfortable with being healed by an untested power I can heal you outright. Do we have your permission to heal you?"

"Oh sure, go right ahead, I don't mind playing guinea pig." The man smiled cheerily and waved with the arm not stuck in a cast.

"OK then, first customer!" Walking forward I drew the water out of the container strapped around my waist. I personally was offended by how much it resembled a fanny pack, but that was a battle to have out with PR another day.

Focusing on the water it started to glow. Taking that as a good sign I pressed the water up against Tom's cast, and watched in fascination as the water seeped around the edges of the cast and into contact with his skin. From there… I just focused on the idea of healing. It really wasn't an exact science, but I could feel the bones in Tom's hand and arm knitting back together.

Panacea hummed contemplatively for a moment. Then shot me a genuine smile. "Congratulations, you have now healed your first patient, welcome to the club." Turning her gaze onto our patient she gave the man a smile that failed to reach her eyes. You are good to go sir. A nurse will be along in a few minutes to cut you out of that cast."

Panacea started to sweep out of the room and I made to follow, but then Tom called out. "Hey, hang on a sec! Player, could you sign my cast? If I'm the first one you ever healed I'm going to need some proof to show my friends." The man shot me a big toothy smile.

"Sure thing!" Someone wanted my Autograph! No one had ever asked for my autograph before!

Pulling out the sharpie PR insisted is included in every utility belt I quickly jotted down a message on Tom's cast.

'To Tom, my first patient and autograph! Stay healthy, Player.'

Giving Tom a big grin from behind my cowl I waved and all but skipped out of the room. Panacea, with a bemused expression, shook her head a bit and set off toward our next patient.

{}{}{}{}

An hour later Panacea and I stood on the roof of the hospital leaning against the railing as we watched Rocky and Diver chase Beauty through the air.

"Your power is interesting, you can't seem to do much for any kind of sickness, and the less said about the poor guy with cancer the better, but any kind of break, cut, burn, and even internal damage your power seems to be able to handle."

I nodded along I felt terrible about the guy from the cancer ward. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected my power to accelerate the cancer growth. Luckily Panacea had fixed the mistake immediately.

"Basically what your healing is doing is just accelerating cellular regeneration to an insane degree. What I don't get is why you even need the water, or what happens to it after you use it."

"Well powers don't really have to make sense right." I shrugged and hoped that would be enough. I was not supposed to reveal how my power worked to anyone not even other hero groups. Luckily Panacea did not seem at all concerned with the fact that I got healing and baby dragons.

Grunting Panacea pointed of across the skyline. "Looks like my ride is almost here, stick around a minute and you can meet my sister."

"Sure, sounds good." I turned my attention to watch the rapidly growing dot that is Glory Girl. As the girl approached a warm feeling started to hit me. This is Glory Girl, one of the heroes of New Wave. She was impressive, beautiful, strong, fashionable, and dear god she was hot.

My mind felt a little fuzzy.

As the blond bombshell landed on the roof I was overwhelmed. Just her presence was making me weak in the knees, I felt short of breath and I was overcome with a longing that I could not name or control. In the back of my mind I realized that Panacea was saying something to her sister but I didn't really care. I couldn't think.

Before I knew it I was standing inches in front of the beautiful hero, my mask pulled down to my neck, my arms wrapped around her shoulders and my lips firmly planted against her own. It was bliss, it was euphoria it was, it was…

In the blink of an eye the lust I felt was gone. In its place was fear, unspeakable, unimaginable fear. Just like that I let go of her and crumpled to the floor. I curled up in a ball on the roof crying, begging, pleading with the avenging angel that floated above me to have mercy, to spare me. I wailed out an incoherent apology I knew could never be enough. Then as the crushing weight of how horrible I truly was sank in, I settled for rocking back and forth on the roof as I gripped my head in my hands, and sobbed.

A million miles away I could hear Panacea shouting something.


	22. 35

Grind 3.5 A Cure For What Ails You

A string of popping noises announced the retreat of my fire lizards. Who could blame them for leaving such a terrible… no. No, that's not right. I, I'm not a terrible person! I'm a hero! But I… What the hell came over me? And why did I still feel afraid? My head clearing, I could now make sense of the voices around me. I did my best to listen as I wiped away tears and snot from my face.

"What the hell just happened?!" Glory Girl shouted.

"For the last time Vicky, shut. Down. Your. Aura!" Panacea shouted at her sister. "She was acting completely normal until you got here, and I know you have the damn thing cranked to the max! I don't care how much you want to make a good first impression that does not justify you playing with anyone's emotions like that!"

As the healer finished her tirade the last of the fear slipped away settling into a mild unease, the kind that leaves the hair on the back of your neck standing up.

Slipping my mask back over the lower half of my face I adjusted to a slightly more comfortable sitting position. I was not about to try standing up, not until I had my breath back and my chaotic emotions under control.

The hand that clamped onto my shoulder nearly made me jump out of my skin, but a quick glance revealed a concerned looking Panacea. "You alright? I've never seen anyone have such an extreme reaction to her aura before."

That was her aura?! It wasn't supposed to hit that hard, obviously, or we would not still have crime in the city but then why… As the dots connected in my head I groaned and leaned back sprawling out on the roof. "My little dragons and I, we have an empathic link, must have multiplied the effects."

"That does not explain you kissing me!" Glory Girl shouted from twenty feet away where she hovered. "And not that there's anything wrong with it, but I'm not gay, I have a boyfriend!" She sounded a bit panicked.

"Congratulations, neither am I." I deadpanned back at her. Normally I was against stereo types, but I could not fight the thought that perhaps Glory Girl fit the dumb blond mold. That stupid aura was part of her power, and I knew she had been a cape for a few years now, did she really not know she was flying around in a love me bubble?

Panacea's eyes went wide and her head jerked back and forth between her sister and I.

"Bullshit! You kissed me! Why else would you kiss me?!" Glory Girl seemed rather hysterical. I could sort of see why given that a complete stranger had just walked up and kissed her. On the other hand, FUCK THAT. She had just fucked with my head, I wasn't little Taylor Hebert who just sat back and accepted what was done to her. Not anymore. I had left that world of suffering and self hate behind and Glory Girl had just sent me back to it only worse.

I'm pissed.

"Yeah, I kissed you, because your stupid aura just FUCKED WITH MY HEAD! Oh, and by the way thanks for completely screwing up my first kiss!"

"What how is that my fault?!"

"Well if you didn't fly around with a 'fuck me' field I certainly wouldn't have thrown myself at you! How am I supposed to explain to people that my first kiss felt like something out of a cheap romance novel because I was being mind screwed at the time! And your fear me thing! What the actual fuck?! I haven't felt that horrible since my trigger! What the fuck is wrong with you, using such a screwed up power, you are supposed to be a freaking hero!"

I was blurting out whatever came to mind, and I did not care if I hurt her feelings. I had taken so much crap over the years from bullies, now I was free. I had spent the past few weeks in a blissful world where I did not have to be afraid, where I could make friends and be happy. Glory Girl, had just attacked my new reality with high grade explosives, but I was not about to let her get away with it. I would fight tooth and nail to hold onto my happiness. If that meant beating her off with a stick or destroying her world view with guilt, I would do it. Besides, if this is how she always acted I would be doing the world a favor.

Glory Girl could not seem to get her thoughts together, her mouth just opening and closing as she tried to pull together some sort of rebuttal.

"OK enough." Amy said. "Vicky, I think you should head home. I'm going to get Player back on her feet."

"Ames I…" Panacea cut her sister off. "Now, Vicky." Something in Panacea's tone had changed. In the hospital when dealing with Patients she had sounded bored, now she sounded angry, almost as angry as me.

Glory Girl, looking concerned, nodded and took off. Good riddance.

For a long time Panacea and I just sat quietly on the roof, my thoughts and emotions spinning out of control. In about a minute and a half Glory Girl had made me feel as good as I had after my public debut and then as bad as I had while trapped in the locker. Admittedly both were different sensations but the severity of the emotions was a decent approximation. Her power mixed with my dragons had been overwhelming. If it had not ended so quickly, well, the roof is seven stories up.

That thought sent a shiver down my spine.

Beauty, Rocky, and Diver chose that moment to come back. The three of them circled Panacea and I screeching in fear before they dived under my half cloak and clung to me like a lifeline.

"Are they alright?" Panacea asked. I had almost forgotten the healer in my rush to comfort my friends. It was a tricky task to gather all three into my arms at once even without holding a conversation. So I improvised. I scooped the three onto my stomach and wrapped them under my half cloak, whispering reassurances before I answered.

"Your sisters Aura, just like how I feel their emotions they can feel mine. We probably created a bit of a feedback loop. Poor things must be as rattled as I was, am." I corrected myself. I might not feel the crushing fear anymore, but I was still rattled.

Panacea seamed to mull that over for a long time. I whispered comforts to my dragonets doing my best to focus on warm and happy feelings, trying to shower my little friends with warmth and love. They had done so countless times already for me, I owed it to them to try and repay the favor.

Finally Panacea seemed to steal herself, "How bad?" it was a simple question but how could someone explain going from ecstasy to crippling fear and self loathing in a matter of seconds?

It had been very bad, like a concentrated dose of self loathing, a distillation of months, or maybe even years of bullying. The fact that it wasn't real, that it was imposed on me let me be angry, but after my outburst the emotions had all drained away. I simply felt exhausted now. I gave up on finding an answer and simply shook my head.

Clutching at my friends I could feel some small measure of my pre Glory Girl mood returning. I focused all of my attention on the good things I had done today. Closing my eyes I just tried to focus on the happy smiles of the people I had healed. It helped a bit, I tried again focusing on other bright moments. Vista trying to keep up her façade of veteran ward when I explained the meteor strike attack to her, then failing and running from the room to find something to practice with. Dennis telling me jokes as we drove from the PRT to my house the night I realized I had powers. The day of my public debut. The happy memories washed through my mind like a cooling balm, easing the fear and bringing a light smile back to my lips.

Being so lost in my thoughts Panacea caught me off guard when she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "I'm sorry that Vicky put you through that, and I think we have a lot we need to talk about." I nodded numbly into her shoulder.

Pulling me back onto my feet and letting me lean into her Panacea brought me back inside the hospital where she quickly commandeered an empty room. When one of the nurses tried object Panacea told her in no uncertain terms that the room was only open because we had healed the previous occupant and that we would give the room back in short order.

Leaving me slumped in a chair she left for a few minutes before reappearing with two steaming cups in hand. Passing one off to me she hopped up onto the edge of the hospital bed. A careful sniff revealed that my drink was hot chocolate. "Thanks, I'm more of a tea person, but right now chocolate sounds pretty good too."

Panacea nodded. "Chocolate is the strongest natural antidepressant, the chemicals actually produce the same sort of sensation as love. Right now I think you could use some mild chemical happiness, you know?"

Nodding slowly I took a small sip, I did not particularly enjoy the idea of anything fucking with my emotions right now, but she made a very good point. I needed to level out my emotions. So long as she hadn't dosed it with anything stronger then chocolate it was probably a good plan.

"So, I don't know what to do now." Panacea said talking a long sip of her drink. "My sister just fucked with your head, and you chased her off with a tongue lashing. Can't say that I have ever seen her speechless before." Panacea chuckled dryly. Apparently the idea of her sister speechless was amusing.

"Not only that, but thanks to you I know it was fake." The healers voice sounded empty.

"How so?" I asked my voice not sounding much better.

The girl hesitated. Shaking her head she focused on her drink. Something was eating at her, and it had to do with Glory Girls power. That really only left only two options. She was either in love with her sister, or she was convinced that she was worthless. Then again it could easily be both. My experience certainly proved that the aura could switch between effects. Not only that but if she really was in love with her sister, the mental strain that must be putting on her. Yeah that settled it, both, definitely both.

"I'm not stupid Amy." I needed to address this, she needed to address this. Hopefully using her civilian name would help the walls come down.

Amy's shoulders slumped, she seemed to collapse in on herself, and her only vocal response to my statement was a grunt.

"You love her, and unless I miss my guess you hate yourself for it. It isn't your fault."

Panacea's next words were only a whisper. "Don't tell anyone." It was as much a plea as anything else.

I shook my head. This was beyond fucked up, this girl who had saved thousands of people in her career as a cape, in just a few years really, had been suffering as much as any of her patients. She just kept all that pain bottled up inside herself, and none of it was her fault.

I set the drink aside, and hopped out of the chair depositing my dragonets on the bed next to her, I wrapped my arms around the girl. My friends seemed to pick up on the mood and went to her. Rocky and Diver nuzzled at her sides and Beauty settled onto Amy's shoulder to rub against her cheek.

"I won't unless you tell me it's alright. But this can't go on, and we cannot let your sister do this to anyone else." Amy seemed to tense up. "I'm not saying she should be locked up or anything, but she needs to learn to keep that aura locked down as much as possible. The only way she is going to learn to do that is if she knows how it effects people long term." Amy started to cry, I felt like shit doing this to her, but if her sister stayed oblivious she would eventually do the same thing to someone else. This had to stop and I needed to help anyway I…

"Fuck!" I swore explosively. "I'm such an idiot! Amy, I think I might be able to help undue this."

Amy grabbed onto my shoulders and pushed me away to stare me straight in the eye. The look in her eyes was almost manic in its intensity. Speaking slowly, and clearly with more veiled emotion then I would have thought possible she asked me a single question. "How?"

"My healing, it…" I trailed off the look in her eyes changed. The bit of hope mixed with the intensity seemed to drain out of her as her shoulders slumped.

"The brain is a lot more complicated than a cut or broken bone it's…"

"No, please listen it's not…" I waved my hand vaguely before sighing and tapping at the comm in my ear. "Base this is Player."

"Player, this is Kid Win, what's the situation?"

"I finished up my healing session with Panacea then I met Glory Girl. Her power did not play well with mine. We didn't fight, but we also aren't about to be friends any time soon. I cannot go into details right now. The short version is Glory Girl flew off, now Panacea and I are in a really awkward spot. I think I can help but to do that I need approval to explain my power to her, in detail. Can you see about getting me clearance for that, quickly would be best."

Kid Win whistled long and low. "You are going to owe me an explanation for this later you know that right? I'll see if I can get Piggot on the line. Hold on just a sec alright?"

"No promise on getting you the whole story. It's not all mine to tell. I'll hold for Piggot, thanks Kid."

"Don't thank me just yet. You still need to get this by Piggot."

"Right."

Panacea fallowed the conversation with guarded interest. Tapping my mike off I asked. "I promise not to go into details but I need to give the director a reason to give me the OK to let you in on my full powers. Can I tell her that your sister's power has a newly revealed long term effect, which you are suffering from."

Panacea nodded cautiously. "Alright, but nothing more than that."

"I promise, that's all I'll say."

Just then the radio crackled back to life and I reactivated my mike.

"Player, you were supposed to be getting your healing ability evaluated. Would you care to explain to me how that somehow turned into a vague showdown with Glory Girl and a request to disclose the full details of your power to Panacea." The director's icy voice filled my ear.

"I'm afraid some of those details are not mine to share because they affect Panacea, and the situation I am trying to address. What I can tell you is that I had a very negative reaction to Glory Girls aura, which has prompted the theory that her aura has long term effects. We are fairly certain Panacea is suffering from those effects. I think I can help to alleviate them."

"Ahh the supposed ability to, what was it, eliminate mental contamination?"

"Correct, I have not been able to test it yet but I think it would help. The problem is Panacea has no reason to believe me, not unless I explain how I got the ability, and how it works at least."

For a few moments the line was silent. "Did the incident damage our relations with New Wave?"

"I'm not sure Director, Glory Girl and I certainly didn't see eye to eye when she left."

"If you are able to help Panacea with these 'long term effects' would that improve our relations with New Wave?" Really? The woman needed a reason to help out one of the world's most prominent healers?

"I would assume so director."

"Very well explain it to her, but swear her to secrecy, and I expect a full report of the incident on my desk before you go home tonight."

"Thank you director." With that I ended the call.

Now I just needed to explain my full power to a girl who was one more emotional revelation away from having a breakdown.

"OK, this may not work, but I need you to give me your hand, and trust me. If this works how I hope it will then I can show you what is going on, if not then nothing will happen and I just have to explain it without the visual aids."

Hesitantly Panacea took my outstretched hand and the Dragonets all perched on us. Closing my eyes I focused on the tugging sensation and on the black room. Moments later the effect took hold and I found myself in front of my wall of options.

"What, what is this?"

"Panacea welcome to the black room." I swept my arms expansively to include the entire room. "These are the options I have available right now. My power locks me in works of fiction, where I, and anyone I bring with me, have to play it out. At the end the powers of those people end up here where I can access them, I can have up to four at a time. The one you want to look at is Katara under Avatar: The Last Airbender."

Panacea timidly walked up to the wall reading as she went. "Remove mental contamination." The words came out as a whisper but the emotion behind them was staggering. In a whirl she spun around and looked at me. "Do it, I don't care if I'm the test run for this, fix me, please."

Nodding I grabbed her hand and focused on taking us back. Once Amy was seated in front of me I drew the water out of the flask on my back and focused. As the water started to glow I lifted it up to hold on both sides of her head. I could feel it, something distinctly wrong, like brightly colored lines drawn across clean white paper, they stood out. I set my focus on breaking them down into nothing.

For ten minutes I stood there focusing while Amy sat with her back straight and a blank expression. When the last of the lines where erased and I moved the water back to its container. She leaned into me and cried.


	23. 3-6

Grind 3.6 Amy and Dean

Amy

There is a little known fact about the PRT vans, something which as a healer I am well acquainted with. The benches along either side can be unfolded into gurney beds. It allows every PRT van to double as an ambulance capable of carrying two patients. Of course it's not as good as having a real ambulance, because there is no equipment and trained personnel wouldn't have room to work. However it does allow the PRT to evacuate people mid cape fight, something regular ambulances cannot do.

The reason that I was so fond of this fact is simple, I was tired, and while not incredibly comfortable it was a better way to catch a nap than sitting upright. Player seemed to agree. Given that she passed out before I had finished unfolding the bed I now occupy. I wanted to just let go and sleep, but my mind refused to calm down.

I still loved Vicky, but not like I had, not anymore. Now she is just my sister, and I loved her for it and nothing more. I had wanted this for so long. I did not need to feel guilty anymore. So why did I still feel so wrong? I knew it wasn't Vicky's fault, she could not have known what her aura was doing to me. But at the back of my mind the irrational part of myself was a mess of conflicting thoughts and feelings.

I could remember loving her. I could remember every guilty daydream, and twisted fantasy. They were still there fresh in my mind, but it was like remembering a friend I had not seen in years. Or perhaps a better way to describe it would be like reading a book you can relate to, where you can empathize with the characters but they are just far enough removed from you to make the story unsettling.

Ha, thinking about this whole mess in terms of books while lying next to someone who actually lives in books. I had heard about all kinds of ridiculous powers but Player's power is an entirely new brand of crazy.

She fixed me, did something I could never do. She went into my head and purged out all the emotions that didn't belong. But now what? We still need to explain to Vicky what her aura did to me. It's not my fault, never was in the first place, but what will Carol think? Hell, what will Vicky think? Can I even go back home after this?

The thoughts coil's in my gut like a snake made of lead. My mind kicks into overdrive trying to follow that train of thought to some sort of conclusion.

Carol couldn't throw me out for this, could she? It's not like it was even my fault. Even if she did I'm sure I could stay with Aunt Sarah. She wouldn't hold this against me, but how long could I stay there? Certainly not forever, and even if I could I would not want to. At some point I want to have my own life, and move out, and… and how could I?

I'm Panacea, the healer, the girl who does not fight. I could knock out baseline humans or ones with normal biology with just a touch, but that did not make me invincible. Many capes wear full body costumes, and some changers like Hookwolf I would likely be unable to affect at all. I never gave it much thought before because it has always just been a fact of life, but I would never be safe unless I was living with enough capes to make snatching me too dangerous for villains to risk.

Sure most villains respected the unwritten rules, but an unguarded healer, with no affiliated team? It would only be a matter of time. What was I even supposed to do if New Wave threw me out? Hell what was I supposed to do if I ever wanted to leave the city? I'd applied to the local university because it was nearby, and… wow that was really the only reason I had applied wasn't it? I was expected to go to college so I applied to the local university. I had not even picked a major I might be interested in. What was I even going to do when I got out? Being in New Wave didn't pay, and I healed for free. I guess I was expected to get a job at some point, but what kind of marketable skills did I really have? And was I just expected to live with Mark and Carol forever? I did not want that, and part of me felt sure Carol did not either.

I liked to write, maybe with enough practice I could be an author. I could certainly publish an autobiography. Detailing how much being a healer grinds a person down would make for an enlightening read, and plenty of people would buy it just because my name was on it. Was that what I should do? Spend my days healing and my nights writing? It didn't sound like much of a life. Sounded like what I do now, but more lonely.

Do I really want that? Am I OK with that being my whole life? The answer came rather easily, no. I wanted more out of my life than a pointless nine to five followed by a few hours of healing, or a day of writing then healing. I had spent so long blindly chasing Vicky, always knowing it was pointless. Now I could pursue a real relationship.

I glanced over where the sleeping Player was curled up with her pet dragons. She had been so earnest on the roof after Vicky's power stopped messing with her. Once I had her settled she almost immediately put the pieces together to figured out what Vicky had done to me, and fixed it. Now here she was passed out curled around her pets looking positively adorable and… OK time to reign myself in. She's not gay, she said so herself. Not to mention I was probably rebounding. Yes, that had to be it. I was rebounding, and this had absolutely nothing to do with her legs… It might, I hesitantly allowed myself to admit, have something to do with the fact that she was one of the only people in my life I felt a real connection to right now though.

That was a depressing thought. I had so few attachments in my life that my immediate response to getting over Vicky was to latch onto someone I had only known for a few hours. Great, just great.

I forced myself to stop and focus. I had the distinct feeling I'd jumped past an important train of thought. My future prospects and New Wave, right. I did not need to come up with an immediate solution to that, but really as long as I was reevaluating my life why ignore it? I did not fit. I had no combat powers, and I did not want to spend my life working, healing, and then sleeping. Hell why did anyone in my family want that sort of life? Unlike most capes we had to work to support ourselves. We all effectively had two jobs, work and cape life. I could see Crystal and Eric picking up a normal job but the idea of Vicky or I joining the normal workforce just sounded absurd. I admit I might like the distraction from healing, but that would be it. I would be working to get out of healing, and in the end I would not have any time left for myself. I needed a better solution than that.

The Van hit a pot whole bouncing us around a bit and waking Player with a start. Groaning she looked over at me. "Are we there yet?"

I had to suppress and amused snort at that infamous phrase. "No, you've only been out for about five minutes, probably still ten minutes until we get to the PRT."

Groaning again Player sat up to lean her back against the wall. "So what now, are you going to be OK explaining everything? You could always tell Glory Girl and leave it at that, but my boss and your Mom may not be happy with getting left out of the loop."

Slowly I shook my head no. "I swore you to secrecy because I didn't quite believe it. Everything fit but I just couldn't accept that it was Vicky's fault. That, and I was afraid it wasn't her power, that it was just me being, _wrong_."

Player took a moment to digest that. "So you plan to tell them everything?"

"Yeah, sorry in advance. Carol and Piggot are probably going to run you ragged scanning the brain of anyone she…" I let my voice trail off and swore. "Dean, for Vicky's sake he had better be right about her power not affecting him or she won't even have a shoulder to cry on when all is said and done."

Player seemed to blanch at that. "And I have to explain to him why I kissed his girlfriend. Great, just great."

{}{}{}{}

Dean

My life is not normal. I'm rich, I'm a cape, and I'm dating Alexandria junior. None of these things can be defined as normal. Because of all that I like to think I can take most things in stride given that I've built up a bit of immunity to odd things happening. Today is one of the days that test that belief.

Speaking into my phone I asked, "Vicky could you please repeat that for me."

"I said your teammate Player kissed me!" I winced pulling the phone away from my ear. Even without my power I could tell she was upset but that was not nearly as helpful. There were any number of feelings or combinations of feeling that could cause someone to be upset. I had never been very good at figuring out the exact culprit until I got my powers. Almost a year of experience with Vicky told me that this would be a bad time to play amateur shrink and start asking questions about why exactly that upset her. I was going to have to soldier on and just try not to piss her off more.

I was a bit angry that Player had kissed Vicky, but mostly I was confused. Up until now I had been under the impression she was straight based on her emotions around the base. But then she might be bi, after all Vista was really young, so maybe there hadn't been any girls around who's physical attributes she could admire?

Frankly, I know I should be more annoyed with Taylor, but the mental image of a girl kissing Vicky was playing havoc with my ability to think clearly. Not that I could ever admit that if I wanted to keep my head attached of course.

No this conversation called for making the shortest responses possible until I had time to work out what exactly was going on in Vicky's head, and how to address it without upsetting her.

"Do you know why she-"

My carefully selected question was interrupted by another ear shattering outburst. "I don't know! Amy said she was acting normal until I showed up, and she was yelling something about what an evil power my aura was! She actually called it a fuck me field!"

Ahh now that I could identify that sounded like indignation. So Taylor was overpowered by Vicky's aura, which is strange it's not that powerful, then she shakes it off, somehow, and claims it is Vicky's fault. Then it clicked, the little Dragons that now permanently resided in the Wards common room, share an empathic link with Taylor, and from there… fuck!

"Vicky, do you remember the big reason you like dating me?" I asked trying to keep my voice calm.

"Dean, now is not the time to talk about your-"

I cut her off. "No, Vicky, I meant about how our powers interact!" God, did she really think I would be making an innuendo right now? I've got more class then to change the topic to something like that, especially when she's upset!

"What, that you're immune? Dean, my aura does not make people abandon all reason." Her tone made it perfectly clear she thought I was being a moron.

"Vicky, did you notice three little dragon creatures flying around Player by any chance?"

The line went quiet for a moment before Vicky answered. "Yeah they looked cute, they disappeared not long after she kissed me, I think."

"Did she stop acting weird after they disappeared?"

"Umm yeah, I guess. That is if yelling at me isn't considered weird?"

"Crap. Vicky, the dragons are empathicly linked to her. What they feel she feels and vice versa. Your aura hit all of them, and she got nailed with the cumulative effect."

"Fuuuuck. Dean, I'd better go. I think I need to warn Mom that we might be getting a call from the PRT in the near future."

"Go ahead Vicky, oh wait one quick question?"

"Sure, what?"

"Was she a good kisser?" I had to, as nice as I am the question _demanded_ to be asked, now that Vicky had been defused anyway.

"She was, as a matter of fact you could stand to learn a thing or two from her." And just like that Vicky hung up, leaving me with my mouth hanging open.


	24. 3-7

Grind 3.7 Vicky and Amy

Vicky

Snorting I put away my phone, and poured on the speed. Honestly asking if Player was a good kisser, what was wrong with that boy? Not that it mattered right now I had much more important things to worry about. Mom needs to know about this, it's not my fault the girl had a bad reaction to my aura! It's not like her little pets flew around with signs saying empathic power multiplier!

I was sorry that it messed with her head, but what was I supposed to do about it? It's part of my power, and I can't turn it off. I'd tried, especially early on when all of a sudden people started to like me because of it, well that and being a hero. Not having a secret identity though I just had to get used to that.

It's not like anyone ever complained about my aura though! At least, not the good guys, but it's alright to scare the crap out of the bad guys. They deserve it. Player hadn't deserved it.

I winced at that. She had not planned to kiss me, hell from what she said she didn't even want to. And then I hit her with fear, and shit, Dean said the affect multiplied. Damn she really did not deserve that especially given she wasn't exactly feeling like herself. Oh man I really should apologize… Call first though, call ahead and give her a chance to meet me without the little dragons.

Oh crap, I wanted to hold them though! They looked adorable! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I keep my aura running at the lowest setting, and she only brings one?

Crap no. Need to focus, need to apologize, and show her I really mean it. Maybe I could take her shopping?

Landing in front of the house I headed inside

"Mom, we need to talk." I called out.

"Kitchen."

True to her word she was in the kitchen, dicing up carrots. "Mom we ughh might be getting a call from the PRT." Please don't be mad, went completely unsaid.

Sighing she turned to face me. "Property damage, or an injured criminal?" The fact that she expected the call to mean either of those things, well it hurt a bit.

"Neither, umm I met the new Ward Player, our powers did not, umm interact well." I said scuffing my foot against the floor.

Mom straightened up and gave me a searching look. "What happened, exactly?"

I tried and failed not to gulp. "Umm the little dragons from her public debut, they're, what did Dean call it… oh um empathically linked to her. So, when my aura hit her, it uh hit her a lot harder than it would have normally."

Mom was already messaging her temples, the way she does when she spends an entire day working on a difficult case. "What happened exactly? And do not make me ask a third time."

"Well she umm kissed me, and then I ughh switched to the fear side of the aura, and well she…"

"Vicky, tell me."

"She cried, a lot, and ummm curled up in a ball, and she umm basically begged me for forgiveness and mercy." Damn, putting it in words really drove the point home. I really need to find a way to apologize properly. I don't think a trip to the boardwalk for some shopping is going to make up for this one.

Still, might not be a bad place to start.

{}{}{}{}

Amy

Conference rooms suck. The off white paint, the stiff chairs, everything about them is frustratingly bland. Based on how much Player was fidgeting I think she agreed, but then she was also trying to divide her attention between three little dragons.

When the door opened I was surprised to see a trooper rather than Carol, or Vicky, or for that matter director Piggot. "Player, director wanted to give you a heads up that Glory Girl will be coming with Brandish, she recommends you leave your pet dragons in the Wards common room to prevent a repeat of earlier." Player seemed to wince at the word pet.

Nodding Player headed out the door her dragons winging after her, leaving me alone in a rather large conference room with far too much on my mind.

What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation? What is the standard procedure for learning that your romantic interest in your adopted sister is the unintended result of extensive exposure to a weak master effect? Does the PRT have a pamphlet for dealing with that or do they have a shrink they can recommend? Oh shit they aren't going to force me through master stranger protocols are they? If they are I'll leave right now, because today has been shitty enough as is.

Tapping idly at the table I went back to my musings from earlier.

Five minutes later Player came back, sans dragons. "Hey." She said. "Still no Piggot?"

It was the kind of question you ask when the answer is obvious just to make some noise, not that I minded, any distraction was welcome right now. "Nope."

Grunting Player slumped back into the seat next to mine. Apparently neither of us are particularly good conversationalists. I could ask her for advice. I mean she had already solved the biggest issue in my life once today, what's once more?

"Hey, Player what would you do, if you were me?"

"What about?"

"Any of it, all of it, whichever."

"Maybe try being a little more specific."

I glanced up at the ceiling gathering my thoughts. "Where do Vicky and I go from here? What do I do about my families reactions? And…"

"And?" Player prompted.

"What do I do if I have to leave New Wave? Hell what do I do after college? I don't really want to work a regular job, but I heal for free. Even if I stick with New Wave, if they don't throw me out, I'll need a job to pay for stuff. But between healing, and a job I just wouldn't have any free time. I'm exhausted most of the time already. I just don't see it working out. Then on top of that, how the heck could I even move out? Most capes respect the unwritten rules but a healer living alone would just be asking for trouble, though I can't live with Mark and Carol forever." I glanced over at Player. "That specific enough?"

She chuckled dryly. "Yeah that is plenty specific. Anywhere in particular you want to start?"

"Sure, how about the most pressing, what do I do if they throw me out? I could stay with my aunt and uncle for awhile, probably, but I couldn't do that forever."

"Why would they throw you out?"

I did not have a good answer to that one so I decided to shrug instead.

"OK, well, I don't think they would throw you out for something that is not your fault, but off the top of my head, you could stay with my Dad and I. Though that doesn't really solve your villain worries, and it would put my Dad at risk so no. Umm you could probably convince the director to let you stay in the Wards room or get the Protectorate to let you stay on their base. I mean it is kind of huge, and they only have six heroes, and most of them live off base. I bet they have plenty of empty rooms you could stay in."

OK that's not what I'd call ideal, but it could work. At least I had options now.

"What about making a living?"

Player was giving me what I assumed was an incredulous look based on how her eyebrows arched under the big goggles she was wearing, and on how her head tilted. "You are joking right? You could just charge for healing."

"No, no way. That's one of my rules. I do not charge people for healing."

"Why?"

"Because it's a slippery slope, that's why." Alright so maybe not my best argument ever but still it was true.

Player seemed to mull that over for a sec. "Ok so you don't charge for healing, can you do stuff that is not healing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Could you do stuff like cosmetic surgery? Could you drain the fat out of people and trim away all the excess skin it would leave behind? Could you give people nose jobs or boob jobs, things like that? It wouldn't even be healing since it technically doesn't need to be done. You could charge people for stuff like that."

Cosmetic surgery, charging for cosmetic surgery… I could do all of those things easy, and probably a lot more. I could give people a tan without all the increased risk of skin cancer, I really could drain the fat out of people all I would need is a shower. Boob jobs, nose jobs, I could show them in real time what the final result would look like. I could definitely do that. Player had a point it was not really healing if they did not actually need the procedure. So was there any harm in charging for it? But it would cut into time I would otherwise spend healing wouldn't it? I asked Player.

"I doubt it. I bet plastic surgeons don't handle more than one or two operations a day. I think most of their time is spent meeting with people who may want surgery and then filling out paperwork. And even if that isn't the case most people live just fine on a fraction of what people like that make, and you can charge more than they do."

"Why would I be able to charge more?"

"No recovery time, no scars, and if you mess up you just put everything back the way you found it. Yeah you can charge a lot more than normal doctors."

I felt the need to argue, there had to be some reason why that idea would not, or could not work. For the life of me though nothing came to mind. I even know a few plastic surgeons. Maybe I could talk to one of them about a partnership, and with that sort of job I could earn my living in a few hours, go do my charity healing, and then have most of the day free.

"That's actually brilliant. As long as I only charge for cosmetic stuff I can keep refusing people who try to bribe me to heal their actual diseases."

"Sure." Player responded with a shrug.

"How come you're so good at this?" Really she was solving all my problems one after another like it was no big deal, what the hell is up with that?

"Well my power means I can get whatever power I might need, but doing that takes time, lots of time. Short books I can blow through in about six hours, but I can't just sit down with a new novel every night. If there aren't any powers or anything in the book it won't do me any good, and I can't give up six hours every day anyway. So far the Wards have me prioritizing. First stop was to get my healing power, second was for some heavy firepower. Where I go next is actually a rather heated debate between the Wards, Piggot, and Dragon. So I make do with what I've got. Granted what I've got is four powers at any given time, but I do a lot of experimenting. Like how can I mix power A with power B, and then what happens when I add power C to the mix? It's given me a lot of practice with problem solving and looking at things from new angles lately."

"OK like what?"

"Well, I tried mixing metal bending with fire bending the other day. It was Clockblcker's idea. He wanted to see if I could make a flaming sword. Turns out I can but I almost burnt my hand. Mixing powers with Vista works a lot better."

OK so not taking suggestions from Clockblocker, good to know, if not rather obvious.

"Alright seeing as you have already provided a solution to almost every other problem in my life, where do Vicky and I go from here?"

"You're asking me? I still have half a mind to bind your sister with steel cables, and then bury her up to her neck in rock for a few days. You may want a different person's opinion."

"Come on, seriously, what would you do?"

Player sighed and leaned back. "I don't know. She may very well beat herself up over this for the rest of her life. That sounds like a good enough punishment to me, but then if spending a lot of time around her is going to fuck with your head again… I don't know, forgive her but make some distance. I don't think there is a good answer here."

We both lapsed into silence after that. It was another ten minutes before Carol, Vicky, and director Piggot finally joined us. Vicky, surprisingly seemed rather subdued as she walked in. Her aura was set low, but for the first time in years it was noticeable to me. I'd seen enough drug addicts to realize what that meant. I'd never been immune, I'd just gotten used to the effect. Despite the extremely mild positive effect that new realization sent a shiver down my back. Player seemed to bristle.

Taking her seat Piggot wasted no time getting down to business. "Player, you told me I would need to call this meeting, and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. This had better not be a waste of my time. Explain what happened at the hospital, stick to the facts if you please." The director's glare made it perfectly clear things would not end well if she failed to stick to facts.

Player grumbled under her breath before launching into her explanation. "I met with Panacea at the hospital. We spent roughly an hour seeing how my healing interacted with various conditions, I'll get that report to you later director. After we finished Panacea and I headed to the roof to meet up with Glory Girl who was going to bring Panacea home. Her, aura," Player seemed to almost spit the word out at Vicky. "hit my dragons and I. I don't know if it multiplied, stacked or looped the feeling, but the end result was an emotional overload. I walked up to and kissed Glory Girl at which point her aura switched to fear mode, and I collapsed in tears on the roof. My dragons teleported away, most likely because they were as terrified as I was, and that helped. Panacea convinced Glory Girl to turn her aura down to the lowest setting at which point I yelled at Glory Girl. Panacea eventually told her sister to head home. The rest is really Amy's story to tell."

Fuck! Now they are all looking at me, I really don't want to do this. Player reached over and squeezed my hand reassuring me. Taking a deep breath I launched into my part of the story.

"I, I got player inside and sitting down, but something she said to Vicky about not being gay, and about what her aura had done, got me thinking." Fuck! I have to do this, for Vicky's sake. It wasn't my fault, it was never my fault, I don't need to feel guilty anymore!

"I've been in love with Vicky for almost two years now." The room went silent. No one said a word, not even Vicky, though all the color had drained out of her face. She understood what I was getting at, she had been afraid of this sort of thing when we first figured out her aura. She had woken up in the middle of the night with nightmares about boyfriends that didn't really love her for months. Now here was that same nightmare, twisted into something she had never even considered.

"At first I wasn't sure, if it was really her aura, couldn't be sure really. I'd been so afraid to admit it for so long, the idea that I wasn't some kind of sicko… it just seemed too good to be true. I slipped up, said something, and Player pieced it together. She figured it out and offered to fix me. I… at first it sounded too good to be true, but she convinced me in the end. She did it, Player fixed my head. I'm not attracted to Vicky anymore."

Across the table Vicky slumped into her seat looking dead to the world. Carol looked pale and was glancing back and forth between Player and I. For a moment she just seemed stunned at what I'd said, probably trying to wrap her head around the idea that I'd been in love with Vicky. But then her whole demeanor seemed to shift. She looked cautious, guarded, almost like she expected a knife in the back.

"How do I know this new Ward isn't some kind of master or stranger? So far I've heard you have small dragons which sounds like a master power, healing, and now some kind of anti master ability. This is all highly suspicious. And Amy, you let her use some random power on you, and I'm just expected to believe my daughter has been forcing you to fall in love with her? For all I know you've both been mastered and this is some kind of, kind of…"

"Miss Dallon! Are you insinuating that the PRT would use an undocumented master power in some kind of attack against New Wave." The directors voice was ice cold, as she glared daggers at Carol, who seemed to blanch before switching to what I thought of as her lawyer face.

"I'm saying that I'll need more proof than someone saying that Player here can just fix people's heads."

Player was all but fuming beside me. "I can't just fix heads, what I do is remove mental contamination, which lucky for Amy here extends to master affects!"

Carol shot my new friend a dismissive look. "Oh, and how do you know that is what it does? Have you tested this alleged power before against a documented master power?"

"Well, Amy was the first person I've tried it on, but…"

Carol pounced on the opening. "So it was an untested power. Then I see no reason why I should trust your word on this, and if you had never used it before how could you possibly have known what it did?"

Player now grinding her teeth, practically spat her response. "Because that's how my power works! Now would you please just consider the implications! There could be a lot of other people suffering from similar effects depending on how much exposure to her power at normal levels it takes to have that effect! Hell you could be under some kind of effect! Glory Girl needs to learn to reign in her aura as much as possible or she could do a lot of damage! What if she wants to have kids some day? Imagine how fucked up things would be if what happened to Amy happened to her kids?"

Vicky was now visibly shaking in her seat. Vicky loves people. The idea that people only like her because she was a cape, or because of her power had always scared her. She had mostly gotten over it with the distraction of patrols and fighting villains, but this must be bringing it right back up for her.

Carol looked torn. She hates backing down, or admitting she is wrong. As a lawyer her instinct is to never admit she's wrong, and as a mother defending Vicky is obviously a priority. However I can see the possibility taking hold in her head. Player's argument, crude as it was, is hard to ignore. Carol kept glancing between us, you could almost see the gears turning in her head as she thought out the possibilities.

As Carol looked at Vicky shaking in her seat, the conviction and certainty that she normally displayed seemed to come back to her. She straightened visibly, and shook her head.

"Director, I need time to consider this, and to discuss it with the rest of my team, in the mean time I suggest you find a way to prove the girl's power does what she says it does. Vicky, Amy, we're leaving."

What just like that?! She ignores the fact that Vicky's power made me love her for two years, and the fact that I hated myself because of it, and now she just wants me to leave with her? To go back home like nothing happened?! No, I still love Vicky like a sister, and I won't abandon her, but until we figure out some guidelines to minimize the risk of a relapse… I need to spend some time away from Vicky, and time away from Carol wouldn't hurt either.

"Director Piggot? If it's alright with you, I'd be very grateful if the PRT could lend me one of the empty Wards rooms here for a few days, or at least for tonight, so I can figure out more long term arrangements tomorrow?"

Everyone except Player was shocked by the question.

Piggot seemed to recover first. "I believe we can give you a room with the Wards for now, as long as you are willing to sign some non disclosure agreements that is."

"A-Ames, come on you, you're d-ditching me?" Vicky stuttered out, looking like I'd just killed her puppy.

Wrapping my sister in a hug, I tried to calm her. "No, no of course not Vicky, I'm not mad, really I'm not. But this has just been way too much, way too fast. I need to sort all this out in my own head, and I need a better idea of why this happened than too much exposure to your aura. I'm not ditching you. I just need some space to figure things out."

Vicky shakily nodded as she hugged me back, from over her shoulder I could see that Carol looked furious. Interestingly I didn't care. At the moment pissing off Carol was at the bottom of my list of worries.


	25. 3-8

Grind 3.8

Vista

Friday is a good day for patrols. There is always crime in the bay but Friday is one of the better nights to find some action. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday, you got all the typical crime, the stuff that goes on constantly, like prostitution, drug dealing, and hate crimes. Thursday is when the college students go out and kill their brain cells more than usual. Friday, and Saturday are the nights that the gangs have the most street presence. It's not a huge increase compared to the normal levels of gang members wandering the city, but it is an increase.

That's why today was not a Friday. No instead the director decided that as Player's first patrol Friday or Saturday would be a bit much. So instead I was out with Player on a Thursday as we wondered around the boardwalk, keeping an eye out for drunks stupid enough to go looking for fights.

As the most senior of the Wards I knew full well that the best patrol is a quiet patrol. That said this is Player's first night out defending the city. Subduing drunken morons is hardly an exciting introduction into the Wards program. But that was neither here nor there, my orders are clear, keep to the calm part of town, and answer any questions Player might have. That and give advice on what to do, and more importantly what not to do.

So here I am on a Thursday night with my favorite and only protégé, walking across rooftops.

One thing you can say about Player is that she has made things a lot more interesting. Since she joined the team had gained three baby dragons as our mascots, and Panacea had not quite defected from New Wave. It was nice to finally have a reasonable number of girls around to offset the boy to girl ratio. Though admittedly Amy was not as willing to talk and hang out as Taylor, but the later said it was because Amy had a lot on her mind.

I could see what she meant. Since she moved in Monday Amy had been busy setting up a partnership with a plastic surgeon. She was set to do her first paid cosmetic procedure on Monday which she seemed fairly nervous about as well. More than anything though she spent a lot of time just staring off into space doing what I assumed was thinking about the whole situation with her sister and family.

At least I assumed so because that's what I would be thinking about, and because of the way Dean would flinch whenever he looked at her. Some of that might be the fact that he knew she had been jealous, and assumed she liked him as opposed to Vicky, really not sure how Dean managed to miss that. I would think the difference between resenting someone and liking someone should be pretty clear, but then it's his power and it's not like I could explain space warping any better than he can explain emotion sensing so I'm not about to judge.

Warping space Player and I stepped over onto the next rooftop. Glancing down into the next street more out of habit than any real expectation of finding a crime of some sort, I was met by the most beautiful sight imaginable.

Standing below us arms crossed and faces turned upward was the cities most amusing duo. Uber and Leet, stood on what could only be described as an extremely pixilated space ship, and wore costumes even more ridiculous than normal over some basic body armor and simple masks.

Leet was wearing a huge pair of sharply angled red sunglasses, draped over his back was a dramatically flowing red cape and over one shoulder rested the longest katana I had ever seen.

Uber on the other hand wore an unbuttoned, long sleeve, high collar, blue coat, with red stripes running up the arms. He also wore a pair of yellow goggles on his forehead, and a necklace of what appeared to be a drill around his neck.

Both had white tape wrapped around their stomachs.

The contrast between costume and their new ride was baffling, but I could not care less. These two are perfect for a first cape fight, and even better for a first ever patrol. It was not a good idea for Taylor to think cape fights happened all the time, but neither was her thinking nothing ever happens on patrol. These two are a happy middle ground.

I was really going to enjoy this.

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Taylor

My very first patrol and I run into a pair of super villains. Uber and Leet, but still super villains. I had really hoped for a nice quite patrol. It was a chance to go for a night jog with a friend maybe chat a bit, talk about whatever. For a little while that is exactly what we had done, but now it looked like we had just walked into a potential fight.

Vista seemed to be bouncing on her feet next to me. "Why Uber and Leet, how are you?" Vista sing songed down to the duo. "Would you like to surrender now, or should we give your viewers one last show to watch before we lock you up?"

Leet arched backwards taking a deep breath before yelling as loudly as possibly. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!" Wait, what?

"When gamers and internet trolls talk about the mighty gaming duo of Brockton Bay, their talking about us, the unstoppable team of Uber and Leet! Viewers come from all corners of the internet to witness our spectacular feats, and learn about the wonders of gaming! But you saw fit to challenge our dominion over all things game related! You, Player, by choosing a name which should rightfully belong alongside our own have laid down an insult that cannot be ignored!"

I… what? No, really what the hell is going on?! As I turn to ask Vista what was going on and more importantly what we should do, I'm surprised to find her bent over at the waste, and failing to fight off a fit of giggles.

"Well we saw your challenge player, and real men never run from a challenge! If you truly think you deserve your chosen moniker you are going to have to prove it! We have brought with us an army of enemies from the classics! Player one, and Player two your objective is to survive the horde!

And with that proclamation things only got stranger.

Some kind of attack started to rain down on us from above being launched by some sort of odd…things, similar attacks where launched from in front of us by what looked like a fleet of bug, ship, things. And out of a back alley crawled a pair of massive segmented centipedes which stood about four feet hi.

Vista immediately snapped out of her fit of laughter and grabbed onto my wrist hauling me away and over a few buildings with just a few steps. "Control this is Vista, we've been engaged by Uber and Leet who have an army of arcade rejects after us. We are executing a fighting retreat towards the bay, will try to keep damage to a minimum, out."

Just like that my first cape fight started.

"OK what have you got right now? Powers, weapons, tricks, lay it on me." Vista asked, she sounded calm, it almost sounded like she was trying to quiz me.

"I've got Mario, dad insisted because it's my only brute power, I've got water bending in case someone got hurt, and Piggot told me not to use metal or earth bending unless we ran across a heavy hitter, so I've got two random Pokemon projections."

Vista nodded to herself as she jumped across another roof, we made good time but the army behind us was slowly gaining.

"OK, here's the plan, step one is eat a mushroom, I assume you have some with you right?"

Nodding I took out the little baggy of stir fry mushrooms pulling my cowl away from my face slightly, and dropped a few slices into my mouth. It was a trick I had practiced so I would not end up with sauce on the inside of my cowl.

After I gained about two feet Vista nodded and continued. "Step two is use those projection powers to stall for time.

Spinning around I noticed that all of the shots from the approaching horde seem to be curving up into the air, Vista's power. Really had to hand it to the girl keeping something like that up and a set distance away while running had to be at least a little tricky. Not wasting the opportunity I curled both hands around imaginary pokeballs which quickly took shape. Praying for something useful I chucked the two orbs. In a blinding flash of light they resolved into Dennis's Charizard, and my Arcanine. Slowly I let a big smile split my face.

"Hey Vista, how do you feel about riding on the fluffiest fire breathing dog ever instead of running."

"Is that even a question?!"

"Charizard take out the ones in the sky with your flamethrower, and try not to get hit!" I shouted as Vista and I clambered on top of my Arcanine. Charizard roared a battle cry before taking off to incinerate our airborne enemies. "Arcanine, head for the beach!"

Glancing back I saw fire all but leap from drone to drone before the things would crash to earth, some taking out the drones below them on the way down. Charizard was flying in lazy loops and bombing runs as it spat out a constant stream of fire. I winced as one of the flaming wrecks hit a parked car, but I reasoned there was only so much I could do about limiting damage, and that I currently had more important things to worry about. Not that this fight was much a fight Vista and my projections made this really rather dull. It was a little disappointing honestly.

A little under a minute latter Vista and I stood behind and to the left of my Arcanine on the beach. The trip had been much smoother than expected. We waited a full minute before the two four foot high centapedes made it to the beach a little ways off I could see Uber and Leets personal ship engaged in a dog fight with Charizard. Despite my projections theoretical edge in agility, it seemed to fly in set patterns and made only clunky disinterested turns, Uber and Leet seemed to be enjoying themesleves as they bobbed and weaved between flamethrower attacks until lining up an opening. They fired, bright beams of light ripped through my projection, and it vanished without a sound.

Grimicing I returned my attention to the bots already on the beach. Vista had stretched space, and because the centipedes insisted on only traveling one body segment length forward before moving to the side they gave me time to line them up. As the two bots heads were about to line up I gave my order.

"Arcanine, use flamethrower."

The heads burst into flame quickly, and that soon set off a chain reaction. In seconds both were completely engulfed in flame from head to tail. Seconds later they stopped moving all together.

Vista patted me on the back. "Nicely done Player, now that just leaves the _'final bosses'_ and we can head back to base and celebrate your first win!"

She's right, this had really gone well. We had never been even close to taking a hit, and we had beaten all of the robot things. Smiling I nodded. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

The spaceship hanging in the air over head seemed to hover for a few minutes, rocking a little before it slowly descended to the beach. As it came level with the sand it was evident that the two villains had undergone a costume change.

Leet now wore a red-ish long haired wig and was dressed in long black boots, a short skirt and a skimpy tee-shirt with a large red R on the front.

Uber wore a dark purple wig and what seemed like a more masculine version of Leets costume. On the hood of the spaceship they had taped a…. is that a Meowth plushy? "I think Dennis mentioned this was part of the pokemon cartoon, but I can't quite…"

Uber decided to interrupt me at that point. "So we packed these backup costumes in case you turned out to be tougher than expected, didn't realize they would be so fitting you know?"

"I, umm, what? Who are you supposed to be?"

Leet's jaw dropped. "Really? You have pokemon projections as your super power in and you don't know who Team Rocket is?"

"I, look shut up, my power is weird."

Uber started to laugh before chiming in. "Yeah, no kidding. First you have baby dragons for your press release, then you go out and heal people with Panacea, and now you grow a couple feet and fight with Pokemon projections. What even is your power?"

"Right, like we would tell you two what her power is. If we did that every villain in the city would know by morning! No, no way only an idiot gives away their secrets." Vista said coming to my defense.

"Look whatever." Leet said. "Bottom line is we essentially had to come out here and challenge you, considering your name. Well you beat our challenge and what's more you did it with video game characters! Hell we even got some great shots of us beating your Charizard! So thanks for playing Player, but for now at least this is Uber and Leet."

"Blasting off again!" Shouted Uber.

Whirling almost on a dime the space ship turned around and shot off into the night.

"I, what just happened?"

Vista was once again doubled over laughing. "I, I have no idea, but I can't wait to see the cleaned up version they're going to post with commentary in a couple of hours. Still chuckling Vista called in our after action report and we headed off to start filling out paperwork.

{}{}{}{}

Youtube Comments

namecareno:

dis has been how to costume by da Uber and da L33t

Finagle007:

Bwahahaha go forth oh mighty kamina! and return with a sex change!

Karmafalcon:

You see! You see! I told you all Uber wore the pants in that relationship!

Mizu:

Nope no way the fact that Leet is Kamina cancels out him being Jessie for nothing is more manly than the mighty KAMINA!

Bearsine:

Can, can I has fluffy fire breathing puppy?

TheRedDot:

Nooooooooooo, is mine! I calls dibs!

GuyReactionOver:

They cannot be serious can they?! I mean there is just no way that could fly it's just not going to happen no way no how not possible!

Nutwing2922:

Of course it's possible… maybe… or not… who knows

HansonArtuher:

Wait which part? Them attacking a word their rampant speculation or the ending?

GuyReactionOver:

Ummm all of it…

View 50 more responses

loveofgift:

guys stop focusing on the parts of the video that don't matter! She has a mother! #$ing CHARIZARD! Player needs to have it fight Lung! I must know who would win!

MatBailey:

Dude, fuck no, I live in that town. Nothing should ever fight Lung, because no one here wants to clean up rubble or splattered Wards first thing in the morning.

Pochacco:

So I saw galaga, centipede, and space invaders, this time. what I don't get is the costume choices.

timingbad:

Did you pay attention to the end of the video? They said they couldn't come up with an overall theme and decided to just have fun with it.

Pochacco:

ooooh danka, was eating must have missed that.

Yuffiek:

What I don't get is how they managed to pick a fight with the Wards and, well they didn't win, or even really tie but they didn't get their asses completely kicked for once how did they manage that?!

R-away-F:

Lol they had a good night it happens…. sometimes….

Selias:

Like the time they managed to pie armsmaster?

Vindictus:

that was the best episode they ever had! What game was it supposed to be?

Cubshadow:

does it matter?

View More Responses


	26. 3-9

Grind 3.9: The Adventures of Golden Girl and Dr. Shot!

Amy

I slid into my seat and cracked my knuckles as I started up the laptop the PRT had loaned me. I sipped at my coffee as I glanced around my temporary room. It was small but that was fine. I did not need a lot or a lot of space.

I plugged in my flash drive and started to copy over some of my files, including my pride and joy; "The Adventures of Golden Girl and Dr. Shot." It was something of a guilty pleasure, in more ways than one. Carol would have scoffed if she knew I wrote fan fiction in my spare time. Never mind the fact that it was fan fiction based around a kids show about ponies, or that it was yuri. Not that the term would have meant anything to her. For more than a year this wandering serious of random adventures had been my escape from reality, or that the modest following the series had acquired was a constant boon to my self confidence.

But what should I do now? I had loosely based the leading characters off of Vicky and I. The earliest snips had all detailed Dr. Shot's troubled upbringing as an adopted unicorn in a family of pegasus,then onto Dr. Shot's infatuation with her adopted sister. But those had been the early days of my writing. Lately all my chapters had revolved around Dr. Shot's ever growing frustration with her sister's on again off again coltfriend, the charming but clueless Grey Knight, a strong unicorn who knew only a week magical blast spell and no other magic.

Perhaps it was time to take the story in a new direction, but not quickly. No, right now what the story required was a plot twist, and an open ending that would leave my audience wondering what would happen next.

Smirking I settled down into my chair and started to type.

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Golden Girl and Dr. Shot: The Love Bug Nest

Golden Girl and Dr. Shot strolled through the streets of Fillydalphia. Having only just returned home from their latest adventure to cure the poor ponies afflicted by the slobbering sniffles the sisters kept a sharp ear out for whispers of any new adventures to be had.

Or rather Dr. Shot kept an ear open while Golden Girl occupied the other. "I'm telling you Shot, adventures don't just fall into your lap from walking around town listening to people. If you want an adventure you have to go out looking for it." The white pegasus said as she tossed her golden mane.

"Oh is that so?" Dr. Shot responded in her most smug tone. "Then would you care to remind me how we found out about the golden horse shoes of General Blood Mane? Or how we learned about Sea Serpent Extravaganza we attended? Or how about,"

Dr. Shot's list of past adventures was cut off by her exasperated sister. "OK, I admit it we've found some adventures this way before, but I still say that adventures do not just fall into your hooves."

At that precise moment a small burst of purple smoke deposited a scroll onto the head of the hovering Golden Girl, it then bounced into the out held hooves of her bemused sister. "I don't know Goldy, I think you may be wrong about that." Dr. Shot said with a chuckle. Grumbling, Golden Girl landed beside her sister leaning in close to read the note. Mercifully for Dr. Shot her sister proved too interested in the letter to notice the blush creeping up her face.

My dear friend's Golden Girl and Dr. Shot, I have been given a mission by my teacher princess Celestia. This mission is of the utmost importance and requires swift action! Unfortunately the source of the problem is nowhere near Ponyville. It is much closer to your hometown of Fillydalphia. My friends and I will be on the next train headed your way but I fear we might arrive too late. Enclosed is a map that will guide you to the nest of the love bugs.

The love bug comes in two varieties, the red and the blue. The bite of the red love bug will cause the pony bitten to fall deeply in love with the first pony they see, while the blue bugs seek out only those who have been bitten before by one of their red counterparts, and their bite reverses the original effect. The orders of Princess Celestia are to destroy the reds and to try and capture as many blues as possible, to help treat previous and future victims of the reds.

My friends and I will join you as quickly as we are able, however the nest is expected to hatch soon and the bugs must be contained or destroyed before they have the chance to spread, please make haste.

I look forward to seeing you two again, your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

Golden Girl was the first to recover. "I don't believe this. An adventure actually fell right into our hooves."

Dr. Shot shook out her maroon mane, which was offset by her white coat. "It is rather convenient, maybe if we do a good job the princess will start sending us adventures like this directly."

"That would be amazing! OK, for a mission like this we could probably use some help, and we'll need food and water, and something to hold the blue bugs in!" Goldy exclaimed excitedly.

After a quick conversation Golden Girl set off to find her coltfriend, Grey Knight, while Dr. Shot headed back to their home to pack saddlebags for the trip.

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I leaned back in my chair, and sipped at my now significantly cooler cup of coffee. This was a good start, and I liked where it was going. Still I felt like it was missing something. More characters maybe? The series had always focused on Shot and Goldy. Sure Grey had come along and taken a leading role awhile back but really, given that the original cast made only semi frequent appearances in my series I really could do with a few more supporting characters.

It's not like anyone would fuss about adding OC's to a story focused on OC's, but I still needed a way to naturally integrate the new character or characters. Besides, I had a feeling the coming chapters would have less and less to do with Goldy. If that remained true I really would need those new supporting roles just to keep the story interesting.

Now what kind of characters should I bring in? Well, I could revive a few of the barely used characters that were Grey's friends, knights, guards, police ponies, and what have you. They would be good for filling in some of the dialogue but no more than one or two, otherwise it would get cluttered. Not to mention I did not want to bombard the readers with barely developed characters. Still though, I think I would need at least one entirely new character, someone that had no prior connections to any of my current cast, somepony to replace Goldy as Shot's love interest.

Well I had recently made a new friend, though I would have to tweak the personality, I wanted a character more along the lines of Rainbow Dash. Still the idea of one day presenting Taylor with my fan fic, and asking her if she and I could play it out sounded like fun. Unless of course I turned the character based off of her into Shot's new love interest… or any ones love interest… maybe I just wouldn't mention it.

Shaking my head I tried to refocus. I still needed a natural introduction for this new character. Who also needed a name, and some kind of theme, all ponies need a theme. Well, it is a yuri fan fic I suppose I could get away with something like tripping over each other's hooves or something, but that just felt lazy. Draining the last of my coffee I went back to my typing.

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As Dr. Shot made her way out towards the edge of town where she had agreed to meet with Golden Girl she was lost in thought about what exactly they were heading out to stop, and what they might mean for her.

If she could get her hooves on one of the red bugs she could force herself to fall for someone else. Then she could finally stop chasing her sister. A risky plan, and it would not guarantee her happiness but if it meant she could stop chasing after Goldy then it would be worth it. Besides if she got a blue as well then she could always undue the effect.

At the back of Shot's mind a tiny conspiratorial voice whispered to her, told her she could get one of the red bugs, it could 'accidently' bite her sister in a few weeks or months. Then she could have Goldy all to herself.

Dr. Shot shook her head wildly silencing the little voice of temptation. She was a good sister, and she would never do such a terrible thing. For all her internal protests and indignation she knew the idea would never leave her now. She resolved that she would simply have to stay strong and focus on the mission, and on getting herself a chance at new love.

As Shot came up on the group lead by her sister she was surprised to see two extra ponies she had not been expecting.

Golden Girl hovered a little above the street bouncing over the heads of the other members of the hastily organized group. Shot recognized the two unicorns as Grey Knight and his boss Spear Beard from the local police station.

The fifth member of the party was someone Shot had never seen before. The young filly was a pegasus, her coat a light blue and her mane white. She wore spiffy looking goggles with large circular lenses and a dark blue vest covered in large pockets. Her flank was adorned with a cutie mark of a closed book with a storm cloud on the cover. However what really made the filly stand out was her apparent nonchalance with the current situation. While Grey and Spear both seemed tense and anxious ,and Golden Girl seemed excited, this new filly appeared calm and unconcerned as she leaned against a nearby wall book in hoof.

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Wait a second, aloof calm attitude, book, some kind of head wear that covers eyes and a vest… Groaning I planted my face into my keyboard. This wasn't anything like Taylor, if anything I had just created a gender swapped, pony, Kakashi.

Shit, but I like this character design. And now that I'm thinking of her like a Kakashi insert I have a cool idea about how to use storm clouds to recreate the chidori attack… Son of a bitch, I had to do this now. It was just too interesting an idea to pass up on! Still if she had Kakashi's attitude I would get sick of her character before I finished writing this particular story. No, I would have to play with the personality a bit or this was going to end up being stupid. So, another reason why someone would be calmly reading a book before something important and dangerous was about to happen.

Alright maybe if she is just really new, and does not quite get what is going on, or that the situation is supposed to be serious. Yeah, that could work. Hmm I still needed a name though.

{}{}{}{}

Spear Beard cleared his throat prompting the filly to look up. Seeing Dr. Shot she quickly tucked away her book in one of her pockets. "Dr. Shot, I presume you have everything needed?" Spear Beard asked.

"Naturally." Replied Dr. Shot.

Spear Beard nodded. "When Golden Girl explained the mission the station decided to send my team and I. You are of course familiar with Grey Knight," Aforementioned colt waved cheerily, "and this is my latest student, Book Storm." Book Storm gave me a bright smile. "Pleasure to meat you, just call me Storm."

"Sure thing Storm. So, you all know what we are up against right?"

Spear Beard nodded. "Indeed."

Golden Girl chose that moment to break into the conversation. "Well alright then let's get going! Sis, toss me my bag!" Obliging Dr. Shot hovered Golden Girls saddle bag up onto her back, then the five set out down the road.

{}{}{}{}

Hmm not too bad I guess. As long as Storm did not act like a jerk this could probably work, though I knew I was going to catch some flak for it regardless.

I blindly reached out for my coffee cup as I quickly proofread the newly finished section of my story. Bringing the cup to my lips I was disgusted to find my cup empty. Sighing dejectedly I stood made my way out of the bedroom, and into the little kitchenette off to the side of the Wards ready room where I poured myself another cup of coffee.

Now should I skip straight to the nest or describe conversations along the way? I suppose if they are trying to get there quickly they would set a fast pace, and not waste the breath on talking. I thought as I wandered slowly back to my computer.

But no, I could not just jump straight to the confrontation with the bugs. No I had to introduce the audience to Storm first, give them some background on her, and what she is like. Not too much or there wouldn't be anything to develop latter on, but still I needed to give the audience something to show Storm was going to be more of a regular fixture than characters like Spear.

So how about after a long hard day of travel they break, and make camp for the night agreeing to take on the bugs in the morning? Nodding to myself I put down the coffee, and resumed writing once again.

{}{}{}{}

After a full day of running the ponies decided to stop, and rest for the night so they could be at our best when facing off against the bugs.

Spear beard took the opportunity to show off his latest magical contraption, a little box that unfolded into an entire camp site with enough tents for everypony.

After everypony had eaten something, Spear Beard who did not have a fun bone in his body went straight to bed. The remaining four ponies however stayed up to sit around the camp fire for a bit. Grey Knight and Golden Girl naturally took advantage of the situation to sit as close together as possible, and whisper sweet nothings into each other's ears.

Dr. Shot simply stared into the fire, doing her level best to ignore the couple, and the jealousy it stirred in her.

And perhaps the three ponies would have stayed like that until they chose to turn in, but they were each broken from their thoughts by the sound of a harmonica playing a melancholy tune. The song was sad, and sweet, and for some reason the ponies felt it called for a piano to accompany it. And so the two lovers, and the jealous sister found themselves distracted from their romantic contemplations, drawn out by Book Storm's unexpected music.

After a few minutes the pony tucked away her harmonica before lying back down and looking up at the stars.

"That was beautiful." Said Dr. Shot.

Book Storm smiled at the praise. "Thank you. I like to play, but something about a harmonica just doesn't sound right in a city like Fillydalphia. It fits better out here in the middle of nowhere." The three other ponies sitting around the fire all nodded their understanding.

"So you three do this a lot right? Go on adventures, save ponies, see strange things?" Book Storm asked.

"Of course," Golden Girl said, "Sis and I have been doing this sort of thing since we were little. We travel around, Shot heals ponies that are sick, and I keep her safe! But you can't really travel around without running into adventures. Somewhere along the line that just become part of what we do, heal, protect, and adventure." Golden Girl's voice carried the distinct feel of nostalgia as she thought back over their many exploits.

"Don't you two ever want to settle down, stay put and meet somepony special? Or even just unwind and de-stress with a good book?" asked Book Storm.

The sisters shared a look as they thought that question through. "Sometimes." said Dr. Shot. "But then what about you?"

Book Storm smiled. "I don't really know yet. There is a lot to be said for picking one place and working to keep it safe, but then there are a lot of threats you have to go out and meet head on, away from the ponies and places you care about so that they stay safe. Which one is more important? And which one will make me happier? I'll have to decide someday, but not quite yet."

With those big questions hanging over their heads everypony went off to bed.

{}{}{}{}

HA! I practically vibrated with excitement in my seat. Big questions like that would be sure to draw readers interest, not to mention the question that was not asked. Why does Storm feel she has to protect anyone at all?

I could leave that open ended, then draw it out over the course of multiple chapters. This was perfect for a few reasons. Most importantly it would give me enough time to invent a back story, less importantly it showed the readers that Storm was here to stay, and made them interested to learn more about her.

Unfortunately my excitement was being tempered by frustration. Next was the impending climax of the little adventure. A showing of tricks, a bit of tension, and then bam I'd be done. But the writing was starting to drag on. Every sentence came just a bit slower than the one before it. Still I'd come this far, might as well finish it.

{}{}{}{}

The nest as it turned out was a rather large hole in the ground. Filled to the brim with a nasty, goopy, disgusting blob of what could only be bug eggs.

"Sooooo this is it?" Asked Book Storm.

"Seems like it." Said Dr. Shot, as she floated a large clump of the eggs into the air, and started sorting out the blue goopy eggs from the red one's. She filled several jars with blue eggs before returning the remainder to their nest.

"Well we have the samples we needed now we need a way to destroy the rest."

"I got this!" Shouted Book Storm. "Golden Girl, help me find some clouds we need to make it rain on the eggs first!"

The two ponies proceeded to hunt down clouds, and use them to drown out the nest. Once the nest was well and truly soaked Book Storm landed and flipped open a pocket on her vest. Book storm pulled out a clump of storm cloud which crackled and popped in her hoof. "Now just one last touch to be sure." And with that she shoved the bit of cloud into the water. The water soaked pit popped and crackled with electricity for a moment before dying down and leaving us all in silence.

"That's it?" Asked Golden Girl. "No big fight, or running for our lives, not even a song? We're done already?"

"Well we can't always have exciting adventures now can we?" Asked Dr. Shot. "At any rate we should head back.

And so the ponies turned about and headed for home. At least that was the intention until they noticed the two very large, very angry red and blue bugs sitting in the road in front of them.

"Yes! I knew that was too easy!" Shouted Golden Girl. "I'll get the Red one! Come on Grey you're with me! Everyone else just draw away the blue one!"

Spear Beard, cursing took off down a side path with Book Storm winging her way behind him. As Dr. Shot made to follow her path was cut off by the blue beetle that came up to her knees.

Dr. Shot's horn lit up with white light causing branches and stones from the surrounding area to launch at the now charging love bug. But alas, the vile creature bobbed and weaved avoiding the healer's desperate attack.

As it raced by Dr. Shot faster than its stubby legs should have allowed the Dr. could feel a line of fire race down her back left leg.

Dr. Shot stumbled feeling disoriented and confused.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Shouted Book Storm.

Dr. Shot looked up just in time to see the charging pegasus slam into the bug with a hoof full of thunder cloud. The bug jerked once, twice, then collapsed dead onto the ground. For the first time in years Dr. Shot noticed something, she noticed something about a pony other than her sister.

Dr. Shot stood there with one leg in pain, but despite that she could not stop herself from thinking about how truly beautiful Book Storms mane looked as it crackled with residual electricity.

'But how?' thought Dr. Shot. 'The blue ones are supposed to reverse the effect of the reds. I was just bitten by a blue so how…' slowly a thought wormed its way through Dr. Shots mind, she had been bitten years ago, that was why the blue bug had gone after her instead of any of the others. All these years her infatuation had been a product of a red bug bite.

Almost absentmindedly Dr. Shot used her long practiced talents to close the cut in her leg.

"You OK Doc?" asked Book Storm.

Blushing as red as her mane Dr. Shot could only nod as she struggled to come to grips with her new found emotional freedom.

Soon the pair was joined by the other three ponies.

"For the record I blame you for that Goldy." Huffed out Dr. Shot.

"What, how is this my fault?"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to tempt fate when things seem to be going well."

"Yeah yeah, anyway we took care of it so let's head home."

Grumbling the party fell in behind Golden Girl as they made their way back to the city.

For two hours the party trekked along the road. Golden Girl flitted about Grey Knight's head, and Dr. Shot reveled in the freedom to appreciate Book Storms mane, and well the rest of her really.

Of course after running into the group from Ponnyville the good Dr. found that she had quite a lot to appreciate, and silently thanked the love bug for giving her a chance to find her special somepony.

{}{}{}{}

Finally! God, that last bit took way too long to write. Finding no errors I opened up my account on excessive velocity, and posted my latest snip. I leaned back into my seat to soak up the reactions. After all reading the responses is the second best part, second only to the initial burst of inspiration.

I let a slow smile spread across my lips, only to have my reflection interrupted by a knock at the door.

"It's open"

Dean stepped into my room. "Hey Amy, Taylor and Missy just got back from patrol. They had a run in with Uber and Leet, want to come watch the Youtube video with us?"

"Anyone hurt?" I swear if that girl had gone and gotten herself hurt already…

"Nah their fine. Hey is that… it is! Golden Girl and Dr. Shot! I love that one, did it just update?"

My mouth fell open, this had to be a joke, Dean read my fanfic. Dean was one of my small group of fans?! What the hell?!

"Ugh yeah, just updated."

"Cool going to have to read that latter. Ughh don't mention that to anyone, please. Dennis would never let me live it down." Dean said rubbing at the back of his head.

"Sure, why don't we go check out that video." Before you realize I'm the author, and one of the characters is based on you, I neglected to add.

Dean and I headed into the Wards ready room to find Uber and Leets channel opened up on the main television.

"Hey guy's, you mind if we check out this one minute clip they posted before we watch the actual fight? The title is 'Watch This Player'." Dean asked.

"Wait the title is what?" Taylor almost shouted from where she was waking up her flock of dragons.

"I know right? That's why I want to see this one first."

"That's fine." I said

Dennis hit play and the group settled around the big couch. The video opened up onto a darkly lit room, and two men wearing masks with the letters U and L on them. Dramatic slow music played in the background.

Uber leaned in towards the camera. "Player, nice to be speaking with you again, such as it is… You see we figured out your power. Don't worry we don't plan on blabbing… At least not yet anyway."

Beside him Leet nodded. "See we know what your power is doing, but we want to know how… We plan to give this video two days to circulate so you have time to hear about it. When those two days are up expect a call from us."

"When you get that call we will tell you what we believe your power is doing." Uber continued. "You will then tell us if we are correct. If we are you will tell us how your power does what it does, oh and don't bother lying. Any tinker worth their tools can whip up a lie detector."

Leet leaned back into his seat. "If you choose not to answer us, or decide to lie we will release an explanation of your powers as we understand them. Nothing personal Player, this is just way to interesting to leave alone."

And with that the video ended, leaving the entire room in stunned silence.


	27. 3-10

Grind 3.10 the Sinner and the Pervert.

Father Francis Mulcahy (because M.A.S.H. that's why)

Confession is not what one would call the best part of being a priest. It is not a bad task really, I sit, and listen to people confess to their sins. Usually those sins are minor things. Most often I get people confessing to arguing with a family member or taking the lords name in vain. There are a fair number of teens that come in feeling guilty about what they do by themselves in private. Honestly those are some of the most awkward for me to handle. Those few teens that do come in for confession are usually the ones who have been force fed their faith since before they could walk, feeling guilty simply because they were raised to believe anything associated with sex is some sort of personal insult to God.

It's nonsense of course.

God would not have given us the ability to enjoy it if he did not want us to enjoy it. So long as sex stayed within the sanctity of marriage then God's commandments were being followed. Even then many people feel inclined to debate that particular interpretation.

Then there are the more difficult confessions, the kind that make my stomach turn. Some people confess to murder, or rape, to abusing their spouse, or any number of terrible things. Those are the confessions that are hardest to hear. It is the duty of any priest to listen to the confession assign penance, and forgive their sins. Sometimes the forgiving can be a truly difficult duty to perform.

This though may be the strangest confession I have ever heard.

"Bless me father for I have sinned, it has been six months since my last confession... I've come in search of guidance father."

It's unusual for someone to come to confession and immediately ask for guidance rather than confess, but it happens from time to time, and if someone comes seeking guidance who am I to turn them away?

"Of course my son, what can I do to help?"

"I'm a hero, my cape name is Eidelon." That's hardly what I was expecting to hear. Thankfully the screen hides my shocked expression, after all the most important thing for a priest giving advice is to appear calm and collected.

"I…" The man pauses almost before he starts to talk, though I'm bursting with curiosity silence is often the best way to get someone to talk, so I say nothing.

"I've been fighting for a long time now." The man says each word slowly, and deliberately.

"I have responsibilities to, well everyone really. I show up to every Endbringer fight. I help to hold the line against the abominations. It's… it's who I am."

Once again I'm glad for the screen that hides me from view. The way the man speaks sits poorly with me.

"My son, let me ask you something." The man grunts in response. "What is your real name? Even just your first name, the sanctity of the confessional is absolute, and it feels wrong to call you by a fake name here."

The man is silent for a few moments, and I hope I have not asked too much of him, but finally he speaks. "David, my name is David." I cannot help but smile.

"Hello David, tell me have you come to ask how you might slay Goliath?" David chuckles dryly.

"No I haven't, but if you can tell me how you would be doing the world a great service." Now it is my turn to chuckle.

"If only I could David." I make a point to use his name. "I'm afraid all I can suggest is prayer, and faith that someday the answer will present itself. But tell me, what brought you here?"

Once again we lapse into silence mine born of practiced patience and David's born of contemplation.

"I'm getting weaker." David's voice is almost a whisper. "The powers I can access are not as strong, and after awhile I can't hold onto them anymore, and then they disappear."

Across from me is one of the most powerful human beings to ever exist, and he came to me for help. The thought is humbling, and in a profession which requires humility it is a rare thing to find myself further humbled.

That is neither here nor there though, my duty is still the same, to guide the lord's flock.

"You feel like you need to be stronger than you are, like you are letting people down, like you are letting yourself down."

David is silent for a long moment. "Yes." He finally admits. "Being strong, it's who I am, without that, who am I?"

I smile inwardly this is the kind of conversation I've often had before, it is comfortable territory.

"Why you would be David."

David startles with a jerk I only make out thanks to the shifting shadows on the thin divider between us.

"But I…" he trails off trying to come up with a response. I can't help but smile warmly. Guiding someone who is lost is always a rewarding experience.

"David, before you got your powers you were just a man, not unlike any other. For years now you have wielded more power than many small nations." I pause to let the words sink in. "Now, for whatever reason that power is diminishing. But you forget. You are dust, and to dust you shall return, perhaps so to must your power."

"But I'm needed, without me who will hold the line? Who will fight the beasts?" His voice is filled with a quiet desperation.

It's sad, and almost a little funny. Despite being a full grown man David sounds almost like a child, afraid to let go, and trust anyone else with some achievement they have accomplished.

"Many people will continue to fight, just as you will, David. Your powers may be weakened, but they are not gone, correct? You will keep fighting because you are right, it is important, but you have never fought alone. There will always be those who step up in our times of need. You need to accept that the burden is not yours alone to carry David."

The man is silent for longer than he should be. I need to prompt him now, get him to keep talking, and thinking.

"David, do you know I often have conversations similar to this?" Again, the shadows on the divider shift, betraying David's surprise. "Many men come to me with similar woes about days gone by; it's usually called a mid life crisis." I try to inject as much humor into my voice as I can. My efforts are rewarded by an amused snort.

"I'm going to tell you what I tell most men who come to me with this sort of problem, David. You need to accept it, and focus on the direction of your life. Tell me, are you married, dating?"

"I… No father."

"Any family?"

"No."

"Maybe it's time to start looking for some. Family has a way of grounding us. God made Eve for Adam so that he would not be alone, so that that they could share their burdens, and children have a way of giving new meaning to life."

Again David remains silent.

"I think David that what you truly need is more people in your life, and perhaps someone to confide in. You are always welcome to come to me, or to any other priest should you need guidance, though sometimes these transitions are better handled by professionals."

David grunts. "You mean a shrink?"

"I believe they prefer to be called psychiatrists, but yes."

"Father, sometimes when I fight the beasts, I can almost feel a, a wellspring. As if I only need dig deep enough to tap into the power I used to have."

"Perhaps, or perhaps you are feeling what you want to feel. I don't know enough about powers to say for certain, but many men find a way to chase after their youth. Some men buy fancy cars, others chase after younger woman, you I believe are chasing after power that may no longer exist."

"You think I should accept that my power is weakening?"

"Yes."

Again we lapse into silence, but less uncomfortable than before.

"Thank you father, I believe I'll take your advice." I smile broadly.

"Now before you go David, would you like to finish your confession?"

{}{}{}{}

Narwhal

This was the best news I've had in quite some time. Leaning back from the updated report on the new cape Dragon is trying to recruit I let a smile slip across my face. The girl can actually take people with her into works of fiction. The possibilities are mindboggling. This calls for an email, I need to get in touch with this girl.

To: Player

From: Narwhal

Subject: Possible reading material

Dear Player,

I recently received an update on how your power works. I find the concept exceedingly interesting. Particularly in that it allows you to _experiment_ with a variety of possibilities. Given that you are a young woman it would be completely understandable should you wish to try a few things without the normal risks. I could even recommend a few interesting books for you if you would like. Should you ever want company or perhaps want someone else to test certain _recreational_ uses for your power before trying them for yourself please feel free to contact me.

 _ **Sin**_ cerely

Narwhal

{}{}{}{}

To: Player

From: Narwhal

Subject: Did you get my last email?

Dear Player,

I sent you an email almost a week ago but so far I have not heard back from you. I hope I did not offend you, but as a potential future Guild member I would at the very least appreciate a response. I won't be offended if you're not interested in my suggestion at the moment though do keep it in mind. It may eventually be more appealing.

Sincerely

Narwhal

{}{}{}{}

To: Dragon

From: Narwhal

Subject: technical difficulties

Dear Dragon,

This is rather low priority but none of my emails to Player of the Wards ENE seem to be going through take a look into this when you have a second.

Thanks,

Narwhal

{}{}{}{}

To: Dragon

From: Narwhal

Subject: I see how it is!

Dear Dragon,

I know what you're doing Dragon. You always respond to even the lowest priority emails within 24 hours, and there have been no large scale disasters to address for almost a month. You're intercepting my emails. While it is not ideal I have discovered that there is in fact a workaround. I have sent a written copy of my initial letter to Player via conventional post yesterday. I know you do not share my interests or at least not to the same degree, but given that your hobby is to stalk the internet you are really in no position to judge.

Victoriously

Your' Boss

{}{}{}{}

To: Narwhal

From: Dragon

Subject: Nice try

Dear Narwhal,

Clever plan, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to corrupt, or alienate Player at this time. For the record I do not _stalk_ the internet. I _moderate_ the PHO forums, do a bit of _observing_ at many other websites. As for your snail mail I suggest you look outside your window.

Better luck next time.

Dragon.

{}{}{}{}

Looking out my window a small, sleek, dragon shaped drone held a letter in one front claw, and waved with the other before incinerating the letter with a burst of fire, and flying off.

"Son of a bitch."


	28. 4-1

Grind 4.1 The Telephone Game

The wind whipped around us as we moved from roof to roof. Vista had reassured me again and again that everything would work out, but I was less sure.

If the full details, or even some of the details about my power were revealed then it would not be the end of the world; however it was a lot more attention then I wanted to deal with. Not to mention the fact that if the public freaked I could be locked away for fear that I would become as Dennis liked to say, 'God Empress Taylor'.

Not for the first time I stopped to consider what I should do if things did start to go that way. Worst case would be prison. With the powers in my possession no standard prison could hold me though. I could rip apart metal and rock, shoot fire, make decent sized waves or razor sharp streams of water and that was only one show. Like many capes normal prison could not hold me.

Which begged the question what the hell would they do with me if the public pushed to have me locked up? Surely public pressure over something that could happen would not be enough to send a Ward to the Birdcage. Right?

OK just for a second if I entertain the possibility that they might actually lock me up, or God forbid send me to the birdcage, what would I be willing to do to prevent it?

The possibilities run through my mind before I can shut down the line of thought. Images of myself disappearing into the basement of a library for a few months or years while the pressure dies down. Plots to draw out a story that lasts for years to delay my capture. More terrifying than anything else is the idea of justifying the fear that I would take over. The idea is obscenely tempting, just hop into Greek mythology, or the bible, or a dozen other stories, and walk out with the power to make my will law.

Then the rational part of my mind catches up with my brief impulses, and chokes down the idea. I would be alone, hunted, and hated. Some might respect or worship that kind of power, or point me at Endbringers and praise my victories. That was not what I wanted when I joined. I was looking for a new start, new friends, and acceptance. Taking over would give me none of those things.

As those thoughts played out I had to wonder which saying was most accurate; does absolute power corrupt absolutely, or does power attract the corruptible? Perhaps the truth is a mix of the two?

The buzz of my radio shakes me out of my thoughts.

"Player the call is coming through now. We've started a to trace the call but given that they have tinkertech this could take awhile try to keep them talking as long as possible. Only admit your power if you can't delay them any longer, and if you are forced to disclose your power keep them on the line. Should that happen it will be doubly important that we track them down." I recognize the voice as one of the troopers who seems to spend a lot of time manning the console back at base.

"Got it."

"Player, a pleasure to speak with you again!" A smooth professional voice greets me.

"Ummm not to be rude, but who am I talking to Uber, or Leet?" Honestly I don't see how I could be expected to tell the two apart by their voice after meeting them once.

"Uber, now then down to business. You are stealing our theme, and we want to know how."

"I'm sorry, I don't think I..." My confused question is cut off by an energetic outburst from a second voice.

"Save it. Did you really think you could use two video game powers in front of us while we have cameras rolling and we wouldn't notice?" That would be Leet then.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Please don't call me on my bullshit…

"Bullshit." Leet deadpans.

"You threw Pokemon at us, and you grew after eating some mushrooms." Uber states calmly. "Powers are weird, one or the other I might have accepted as random chance, but both in conjunction with your particular brand of healing, which we tracked back to a TV show, breaks my SoD."

"SoD?"

The headphone fills with an overly dramatic sigh. "Uber, you can't just assume that she knows internet slang based on a couple of gaming powers. SoD stands for suspension of disbelief, newb."

"So what are you implying?"

"... Well that's the thing ya know? We aren't quite sure. We know you are somehow getting powers from shows, and games. We still don't know what the deal is with the dragons." Says Leet.

"So that leads us to our question." Uber picks up the conversation. "You're doing what we have spent years trying to do only you do it better... Well minus our flair, and costumes, but other than that you've done an amazing job recreating Mario, Pokemon, and Avatar. Leet could probably replicate any one of those given two or three weeks, and a decent budget. You on the other hand replicated those and one more at least in about a month. You carry no obvious tinker tech, and the effects you displayed are far too diverse to fall under the same specialty. So how do you do it?"

I glance down at my PRT phone, the plan we worked out in advance was for dispatch to send a message with their location once they had it, and everyone would rush to converge. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Vista shaking her head, and circling her hand for me to keep going.

"Why exactly should I tell you?" I just need to delay them as long as possible as soon as the trooper gets past whatever Uber and Leet have come up with it's all over for them. Then I just have to hope they didn't set a video about my power to be posted on a timer.

The sound of Uber chuckling filled my ear. "Well let's see, your power is classified subtly but still it's classified, we have at the very least a good guess at what your power lets you do, oh and let's not forget you took our call, and are at this moment attempting to trace it. Good luck with that by the way."

"So again," Leet interjects, "how does your power let you do it? Oh, and so we are clear we do have a lie detector hooked into this call."

Fuck. Well I knew it was too much to hope for, but still there goes plan A. Which means it is time for plan B, partial truths.

"I played the games, and watched the show. My power let me copy the abilities from them." There, that is mostly true.

Once more Uber's chuckles worm through my ear, but this time with a darker undertone.

"Now funny thing is with my power I'm actually rather good at a lot of things. Like say in this instance conversing with other people. See I don't even need to look at Leet's lie detector to know you are hiding something." He stops to chuckle again before speaking in a sickly sweet voice. "Come now Player, don't you want to share your little secret with your fellow gaming capes."

That voice sends a shiver down my spine. Fuck. I'm down to plan C, try to distract them.

"Maybe later, right now I'm more curious about how Leet managed to make so many of the same robots the other day. As a matter of fact a lot of people want to know, even Dragon seemed a bit curious.

The sound of Leet sputtering is all I needed to know at last one of the premade strategies was having some effect.

"Dragon, interested in my tech?!"

"Well yeah. It is the first time anyone has ever seen you make multiples of anything without an explosion, and those flamethrower attacks left almost nothing to look at. So everyone is real curious."

"Ha! Well of course flamethrowers wouldn't leave much of anything left! After all those were all made of paper maché."

Wait... paper maché? All of those 90's game rejects were made of paper maché... How in the hell did that even work?

"Paper maché?" I try but fail to keep the incredulity out of my voice.

"Yup!" Leet crows "I made a machine, programmed a mold, and just fed it the raw materials, then it spit out all those bots you fought. Of course it can only do really simple constructs like those, and it only works with really cheap, week, materials. Still though, even with those limitations it's probably one of my best inventions."

"Leet, she's trying to distract you, and it is working." Uber deadpans at his partner, causing the line to go quiet.

"If it's any consolation Dragon was interested about how you did it, and I am impressed."

Uber speeks up, once again directing the conversation. "OK, no more delays. What are you hiding, and why do the PRT feel the need to keep your powers a secret. Talk or we release the details we have, and you can try spinning it to cover whatever it is your hiding. What'll it be?"

Fuck... I really don't have much choice now. A glance at Vista tells me a I need to know about our current luck tracking the duo.

"I didn't lie, not exactly anyway... I did have to play those games to get those powers... Only I was misleading a bit about the experience. I get literally sucked into the book, show, movie, or game, and then have to go through the entire experience to get the power of the character I choose to be."

The line went silent.

"No freaking way." Leet said. "You, live through video games, and then get powers from them?!"

"That is so freaking awesome!" Uber shouted, making me wince. "Why do they even want to hide that?!"

"Their afraid I might be able to become, as Clockblocker likes to put it, 'God Empress Player' if I played out certain things, or that even if I can't the public might decide it's not worth risking a teenager with the powers of the Greek Pantheon." I respond dryly.

"Wow no wonder they want to keep that under wraps." Leet says.

The line goes quite for a moment.

"Can you take us with you!" The duo scream almost in unison.

I glance at Vista, who's jaw has dropped. She shrugs.

"I, umm aren't you guys villains? I'm not really sure the PRT would let me work with you…"

For a minute all I can hear is muttering coming across the line.

"Right then." Uber says. "On the condition that we are allowed to work with you, and travel into various game worlds Uber and I would like to formally turn ourselves over to the PRT, and start a new carrier as heroes', or at the very least consultants on the best gaming powers!"


	29. 4-2

Grind 4.2 The Interview

The atmosphere in the conference room was a mix of tension, and suspicion, at least in terms of the heroes. Despite having a pair of troopers armed with foam launcher stationed directly behind them Uber and Leet acted completely unconcerned with their surroundings, and pointedly ignored the glowering Armsmaster.

The tension in the room spiked as director Piggot entered, and took her seat at the head of the table. Piggot took a few moments to idly flip through a folder, before throwing it down onto the table with a snap of paper on wood. From how quickly she flicked through it she obviously hadn't really stopped to read anything. Looking down the length of the table she fixed her standard glare on Uber and Leet.

"Uber and Leet." Piggot said as she lay her hands on the table in front of her. "You two, want to be heroes." The director made her statement sound like an accusation.

The gaming duo shared a glance before giving the woman an emphatic nod.

"Why?" The director all but spat.

"Lots of reasons." Uber answered calmly.

"Such as?"

"Well the largest reason would be the chance to work with Player. It's no secret that Leet and I have a great deal of appreciation for video games. We actually enjoy most forms of fiction based entertainment, gaming just happens to be our favorite. The chance to actually go into games and play them out while making money is what our web show was always about. Working with Player is simply the next step up." Uber explained.

The director hardly seemed surprised by this, but she seemed far from happy.

"That's it? The chance to live in a made up world, and your suddenly ready to give up the life of crime? I find all this highly unlikely. How do I know that you are not trying to corrupt our newest Ward, or infiltrate the Protectorate as some kind of special spy game episode for your show? Don't think I've forgotten the incident where the two of you broke into the PRT with that ridiculous cardboard box."

Cardboard box? I know these two could be good when they wanted to be, but how exactly did a cardboard box let them break into the PRT? I bit down on the question though as I did not really expect Piggot to be in a sharing mood.

"Oh right! Metal Gear! That was one of our highest rated episodes ever, did you know that? Man, people flipped for that one." Leet exclaimed.

"Piggot's already dangerous scowl tightened further. "You airlifted a half dozen of my troopers across the city and offered them jobs as your henchmen." She accused.

Fighting off a fit of laughter I couldn't help admiring how calm they managed to stay in the face of the angry director. I could already tell that the pair would get along just fine with both Clockblocker, and Assault.

"In our defense director, we didn't actually take anything, and none of the troopers suffered anything more serious than motion sickness." Uber pointed out. "Besides, none of your' troopers accepted our offer."

"You haven't answered my question yet. Why should I believe that this is not another stunt?"

"Do you want the whole list, or just the most obvious ones?" Uber shot back. "If Armsmaster is half the tinker he claims to be then I expect him to have a lie detector somewhere in that suit of his. You know we have not lied. If we did double cross you then we would lose the chance to work with Player. Finally we never really wanted to be villains in the first place, so now seems like as good a time as any to switch sides."

The first two arguments made sense, but the last one caught me off guard. I had no trouble figuring out why they wanted to work with me, and I know Armsmaster did in fact have a lie detector because Kid Win had told me so himself. The last bit however was actually confusing. Everyone knows that Uber and Leet are villains, small time villains to be sure, but villains all the same.

"What do you mean you never wanted to be villains?" Pigglot shot me a glare the moment the question was out of my mouth causing me to sink down into my seat. What could I have possible done to piss the woman off now? Was I expected to raise my hand when I had a question? Was the look because I'm new, or maybe the director does not like teenagers speaking up during meetings? But then what had she invited me to attend for.

"Well most of our early videos were all in good fun. I think the only crime you could actually pin on our earliest videos is disturbing the peace, and possibly reckless endangerment. Nothing really serious happened until episode twenty." Uber responded taking the question in stride.

"For those of us who have better things to do than watch your, _show,_ what made that particular episode a turning point?" Piggot seemed to sneer even more. I almost expected to see fangs soon.

Leets' hands which were previously clasped lightly in front of him seemed to be heading more towards a death grip ever since Uber had mentioned episode twenty. Uber meanwhile maintained his impassive façade.

"That would be our most notorious episode director, our Grand Theft Auto reenactment." Uber said it with a completely straight face but beside him Leet seemed to cringe.

I frowned behind my mask. The Grand Theft Auto episode was well known. The footage of two capes beating up hookers had spread like wildfire, boosting the tiny web show into notoriety a year or two ago. I remembered watching the footage, and feeling disgusted with the duo. They had the power to cause change, to do something truly great, and instead they assaulted women who were already beaten down to the most desperate of measures to make ends meet.

The director stared down the duo like a cat eyeing a bird. "Ah yes, that would be the incident in which the pair of you, assaulted a pair of prostitutes who needed to be hospitalized for internal bleeding. Would you care to explain your actions that night? I highly doubt the parents of our Wards would be keen on the idea of you two working with their children given such past actions."

A slight frown tugged at Ubers' lower lip, while Leet outright scowled for a moment before slamming his fist onto the table.

"Damn it all, that was not our fault!" Uber pinched the bridge of his nose as Leet began shouting. Obviously this was not a new argument to him. "We never intended to go out and beat up a pair of hookers, and we have a completely logical explanation for why we did that!"

The directors' face went still and impassive in the face of Leets' outburst. "And what pray tell might that explanation be?"

"We were suffering from paranoid hallucinations brought on by a gas leak from the engine of the tinker tech car we were driving!"

Everyone fell silent.

That couldn't possibly be true… Could it? The idea was just so ludicrous. Their car had malfunctioned causing them to hallucinate leading them over the line into actual villainy. That was just so… idiotic. Yet it made a twisted sort of sense. The two were well known for their plans going awry, often explosively. As ludicrous as it sounded it actually made sense.

The director appeared far less accepting of this explanation than I. "Is this a joke. Your expect me to believe you committed assault because you were high as kites on some kind of engine smoke."

"Well, it is true. The last thing we both remember clearly was cruising down the boardwalk firing off blanks. After that things start to get hazy. I vaguely remember the impression that there was some kind of tuna fish monster." Uber said somehow managing to maintain eye contact with the irate director.

"Besides, I'd like to see you build a car that can hit 130 and runs on milk without something going wrong." Leet grumbled. "Anyway we spent the next couple of days sweating whatever that stuff was out of our system. Meanwhile the video auto uploaded, and we got millions of hits. It was too late to pull the video and any attempt to explain would have looked like denial, and only made things worse. So we shut our traps, and just got used to the idea of being villains."

"It has actually happened more than once to be honest. When it fails Leets' tech normally goes out with a bang, sometimes however we get much less conventional results."

"Like Neptr." Leet interjected.

"Neptr" I asked, voicing the question for the rest of the table. Before the word had even finished leaving my mouth I could feel the directors' eyes boring into the back of my skull, and cringed. I honestly had no idea why the woman had allowed me into the meeting. I had assumed attendance meant I was allowed to ask questions. One glance at the director from the corner of my eye told me I had been mistaken.

Uber finally breaking out of the stoic image he had been cultivating since the start of the meeting actually chuckled warmly. "Most people remember it from our second annual thanksgiving special. We got inspired by the pumpkin chucking special, and decided to combine the chucking aspect with the true meaning of thanksgiving, pie."

At the mention of pie Armsmaster noticeably tensed, and scowled.

"I basically whipped up a food synthesizer from Star Trek, and attached it to a highly specialized launching mechanism, so that the pies would stay intact during flight. Only problem was our initial test had a leak. We ended up watching pretty butterflies for a few hours after eating the first pie. We patched up the leak with some duct tape later, but by then I'd christened the contraption N.E.P.T.R which is short for never ending pie throwing robot."

Leet paused and frowned.

"That reminds me, Armsmaster I know you were upset we nailed you so many times that episode, but did you really need to destroy that synthesizer? That thing could have lead to solving world hunger."

From the look Armsmaster was giving Leet he was not convinced.

Director Piggot cleared her throat bringing the attention of all those in the room back to herself.

"Are you two trying to tell me, that all of your more damning escapades were the result of you being drugged out of your mind by failed tinker tech."

The duo shared a glance before answering simultaneously.

"Pretty much."

"Yes, director."

Scowling more fiercely than ever the director almost disgustedly flipped shut the folder she had earlier tossed onto the table. The director glanced to Armsmaster who nodded, despite scowling almost as hard as the director.

"Since you have not lied, and your explanations negate most, if not all, of my primary concerns, I'm willing to accept the two of for a probationary period of three months. During that time you will live at the protectorate HQ. You will only leave headquarters while supervised by a member of the Protectorate. During this period you may work with Player, at her discretion. Should she choose to bring one, or both of you along on one of her… outings, I will assign another member of the Wards, or one of the PRT troopers as an escort. If at any time you break any of the terms of your probation, which we will go over in full later, I will not hesitate to lock either, or both of you up. Is all of that perfectly clear?"

Once again the gaming capes shared a silent glance before nodding and saying in unison, "Crystal."

"Well then, welcome to the Protectorate."


	30. 4-3

4.3 Think Tank

The ready room is packed to bursting. I know exactly who to blame for this. Uber and Leet, or rather Jeff and Eugene. Those two assholes are the source of my current misery. I fully intend to make them pay for it. I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure when, but I _will_ get even.

"OK everyone, let's get this thing started." Eugene called out, causing conversation throughout the room to die down.

"Right, well we all know why we are here. Taylor's power has been almost criminally under used so far." Jeff said. "While Eugene and I appreciate Dennis introducing her to Pokémon, we all know we can come up with more useful powers. Now I know the Wards have a list, and Dragon has a list, Eugene and I have a list, but there is no reason to limit this. There is no telling who might have a really good, or obscure series in mind others are less than familiar with. So let's get started!"

The bastards had gathered everyone they could into the Wards ready room, and those that could not attend in person were displayed on the big screen. The screen only had one occupant, Mouse Protector. How those two know her, and more importantly why she was sitting in on this conversation was a mystery to me, but apparently Dragon had politely declined before sending in another copy of her list leaving Mouse Protector as the only out of town cape with an interest. That still left the room packed with all the Wards, Amy, and half the Protectorate.

I told these two that the last thing I wanted was to be the center of attention with an entire group bombarding me with all their ideas about how my powers should be used. Unfortunately they had to go and use logic to overrule me. Pointing out that my only use of my power on a series of my choice lead to the dragonets, who while adorable are not a combat or support power. Now after losing the opportunity to gain new powers last weekend these two want to crowd source for the best ideas, on how I should use my time the upcoming weekend.

The noise of almost a dozen people talking at once immediately spiked my already growing headache.

"Oi! Settle down!" Mouse protector shouted over the loudspeakers drowning out the rest of the group by sheer volume, forcing many to slap hands over their ears. Jeff quickly adjusted the volume with a sheepish grin.

"Now then," Mouse Protector said at a more reasonable volume. "What kind of powers have you already got, that part wasn't covered in the little mini briefing I got from the newly reformed gamer duo." She said shooting a wide grin towards the pair, who chuckled amicably.

Groaning lightly from where I was sitting scrunched into the corner of a couch I responded.

"I've got what basically amounts to plot armor against super powers from the first book in the Xanth series. I have my three fire lizards which are empathically linked to me from the Pern series. I can grow, and have a minor brute rating from Mario, as well as throw small bouncing fireballs. From Avatar: The Last Airbender I got fair levels of control over fire, earth, and metal. Also control over water which comes with healing as well as an ability to remove the influence of master, and possibly stranger powers along with, we assume, hypnotism, and the affects of mind altering chemicals. Lastly I've got two sets of Pokémon I can create a randomized projection of."

For a few blissful moments the whole room fell silent as everyone's focus shifted from me to whatever fictional universes they were most familiar with.

"Right then!" Mouse Protector chirped. "I have a city to protect, villains to embarrass and cheesy one liners to write! So, I'll just make my recommendations, and leave you all to it! Taylor, I cannot stress enough how much fun it is to embarrass the crap out of villains by beating them while acting like a goof ball. Not to mention how bad it is for the villain's reputation! Therefore, I'd recommend any and all examples of cartoon physics. Just imagine how much fun it would be to drop an anvil on Kaiser's head, not to mention the benefits of surviving point blank explosions!"

The woman cackled giving a fair impersonation of a mad scientist.

"Oh yeah, Uber, Leet, I expect to see the two of you down here for a visit once your probation is up. You two are some of the only capes I've met who actually know how to have fun in the field. The city has been almost boring since your last visit."

Grinning like a loon Jeff gave an affirmative before switching off the monitor.

"Wait, you two know her?" Missy asked.

"Sure do!" Eugene answered, "Whenever our ratings would take a dip we would take a trip down to Boston to spice things up. First time Mouse Protector showed up and realized she was on camera she started to ham it up twice as hard as normal. Our fans absolutely loved her."

Jeff leaned back with a wistful smile. "One of our top rated episodes was when Eugene and I tried to rob a whiskey manufacturer on the edge of Boston. She showed up to stop us, and we all somehow got into a drinking contest, she won, but passed out before she could arrest us. We are actually considering getting her to help us out with our final video."

The reminder of their final video was a source of mixed feelings. As part of their cover story the duo needed to do one final video in which they were heroically captured so as to make their sudden disappearance from the cape scene appear less conspicuous. Their arrest coupled with several months of not working in the field would hopefully mask the fact that they had switched sides. My only real issue with this was that they wanted me to play the starring role in their defeat. The idea of part of my reputation boiling down to how I appeared in an Uber and Leet video made me particularly nervous.

Eugene started to laugh. "The company got so much publicity from that episode that they dropped any charges, and even paid us to do an advertisement for them!"

I wanted to call bullshit. I desperately needed to believe they were lying because the story was beyond idiotic, but given recent experience with the duo it was probably the truth. Judging by the looks most of the room agreed with me, however Dennis and Ethan just seemed impressed, figures.

My self-pitying groan was cut off as Carlos started to mumble as he scribbled away on a pad of paper. Leaning over I realized that he was taking down who suggested what and why. Giving up completely I settled down to wait for the whole thing to wrap up.

It was going to be awhile.

The first to recover from the latest insight into the lives of Uber and Leet was Ethan. Striding up in front of the large screen and tapping away at a tablet. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in my mind there is only one clear answer as to what Taylor's next power should be." Tapping at his tablet the screen behind him turned on to display a power point presentation.

Frankly I was stunned from what I'd heard, and seen, Ethan never took anything seriously. Yet here he was giving a power point presentation when all he really needed to do was give the name of the media in question, and a brief synopsis. Interested I leaned forward reading the title of his first slide.

In big bold letters centered above the picture of a large man with a massive but well kept beard it read…

"Chuck Norris! Beard of Steal!" Ethan shouted, while wearing a manic grin.

Resisting the urge to bang my head on the coffee table I settled for leaning back into the coach and covering me head with my hands.

"Ethan, you realize that's not what Chuck Norris looks like right?" Chris asked. "Also, the guy is good at martial arts but there are at least a few people who are better."

Ethan whipped around to face the screen before whipping back around to stare confusedly at Chris. "The hell are you talking about Kid? That's Paul Turner, he was the first ever independent cape. But for his privacy the director of the movie agreed to use a different name for the main character, his real name was only released after he died a few years back. He had the power to manipulate his hair. The man literally had a beard stronger than steal that he could manipulate, and extend to beat people up!"

Nope. No way in hell. I was not going to spend two hours as a lumber jack to get the power of super hair. Wait… was it just his beard, or could he control all his hair? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask, just out of idle curiosity, and since Ethan seemed so eager I'm sure he would want to take the staring role…

Before I could properly ask Chris jumped back into the conversation. "Wait, so you've never heard of Chuck Norris, the actor from earth Alph? The guy has had major roles in a bunch of movies as a bad ass martial artist."

And just like that the pair promptly ignored the rest of us and fell into a debate over which Chuck Norris was superior and which would have the most beneficial power for me. Realizing that there was nothing more I could do in this situation I tuned them out to think of all the different hair styles I'd be able to try if I could control the length, and style of my hair at will. My attention was eventually dragged back in as Ethan exclaimed that with his suggestion I would be able to capture villains with my nose hair caused me to shudder at the disgusting mental image.

Obviously deciding that enough was enough Samantha, A.K.A. Battery leaned over and whispered something to Missy who giggled before bobbing her head.

Moments later Missy's hands wrapped around Chris's mouth silencing him while Sam appeared in front of Ethan. Grabbing his head in her hands she planted a deep and thorough kiss on his lips before leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Ethan now grinning like a loon quickly bobbed his head as Sam pushed him towards an empty spot on the coach.

As Sam turned to face the rest of us she noticed the range of looks she was getting. Coughing nervously into her hand she sheepishly said. "That's the best way to get him to stop talking."

Shaking her head Sam focused on me. Mercifully it seemed she had not tried to make a power point presentation like her husband. Which now that I thought about it I was glad he had not gotten around to presenting.

Power point is one of the ultimate embodiments of evil.

"While I don't have a specific example in mind I think time travel could prove to be the most useful power. In this line of work we don't often get second chances, and sometimes that costs us lives. The ability to go back and redo things could prove invaluable."

That got my attention along with the rest of the room. A way to redo the worst days, and save lives that would otherwise be lost, the chance to be on scene for crimes before they even happen. The possibilities of that kind of power would be amazing. However something was nagging at the back of my mind, a flaw in the logic something that just sounded off about the idea.

The flaw was swiftly filled in for me.

"You do realize it's not that simple." Eugene offered. "There are several theories about how time travel would work in practice, but we don't actually have a concrete answer. You could wind up in a parallel universe, and become the second version of yourself leaving behind your home, and everyone you know to maybe unable to return."

Chris jumped into the counter argument next. "Then you have to consider the butterfly effect. If Taylor could go back in time let's use Taylor going back, and warning Hero about the Siberian as an example. Say she goes back and saves Hero, for all we know this causes a chain reaction where Hero becomes a puppet for Ziz leading to thousands of deaths."

Surprisingly Colin also felt the need to weigh in on the subject. "I don't think we should rule it out. Time related powers might finally provide a solution for Gray Boy's victims. On the other hand there are some days where no amount of redoes will ever be enough. If Taylor had such a power the temptation to use it to try and achieve the best results in an Endbringer fight would be great, the problem with that temptation is no amount of repeats would ever be enough to completely avoid fatalities. The temptation to go back and try one more time would either lead to a never ending chain of attempts, Taylor losing her life, or crippling levels of survivor's guilt." Shaking his head he continued. "That sort of power is going to require careful consideration before we do anything."

Nodding along because everything they said made sense I stopped to think further on something Colin had said. "Has anyone tried seeing what happens when you mix Dennis's power with Grey Boys?"

Dennis looking unusually depressed nodded. "We tried that once. Woman froze in place for around three minutes before the effect wore off, and she went right back to looping."

With nothing more to say on the topic I just nodded my head knowing it was a sore spot that I couldn't relate to, though that might change eventually. I sincerely hoped that if the PRT did send me out to try and reverse the effects of Grey Boy's power I would succeed. Failing seemed, unacceptable.

"What we really need is mobile artillery, preferably armored mobile artillery." Carlos stated. "One of the biggest advantages that the Empire has on us is their mobile heavy hitters. Rune, and Purity can go above the battlefield and reign down hell on us. New Wave can counter those tactics but aside from Chris with his hover board and I we are lacking in flyers. I don't carry any weapons, and since Chris can't carry any heavy fire power there is only so much we can do against Purity. On the other hand if we can outfit Taylor with a high enough brute rating, some kind of mid to high blaster power, and flight we might finally be able hold out against the Empire if things come down to a straight fight."

Getting my hands on a real defensive ability sounded like a solid plan no matter what. Flight was a power I'd been drooling over since I first understood what all my power was capable of. Being talked about like some kind of armored fighter jet on the other hand was a bit disconcerting. The Idea of being the decisive factor in a theoretical battle between the Protectorate and the E88 was scary as all hell. I'm not sure where Carlos got that level of confidence in me, but I was not convinced that I was ready for that kind of fight. Voicing my concerns caused Carlos to give me a sheepish look.

"I'm not suggesting that we do this and go declare war on the Empire or anything Taylor, just that if a situation comes up where we have to it'd be nice to level the playing field."

"Alright, just so long as we're clear I'm not really ready for that kind of fight."

"Yet," Carlos responded confidently. "You're not ready yet. Don't worry, we'll get you the best powers we can, and then with some practice you'll be able to give even the big names a run for their money."

There was that confidence again. I know my power was strong, ridiculously so, broken even. But I had almost no training, and with all the different powers people were suggesting all the possibilities to explore, not to mention my regular duties this was starting to seem impossible.

"I don't really see how this is all going to work." I started slowly. "There are so many potential sources I can tap for new powers, and each new source has at least one, but usually more potentially useful abilities. Every potential ability I get represents a person we have tied up not doing their job, and for every new ability I gain I have to train to see how it works on its own as well as in conjunction with my other powers. All of that takes time, and that's on top of my regular duties here, and school. If, or rather when I pick up a tinker ability that will also be a drain on my time. I'm just not sure how I can go about doing everything."

Colin nodded his head. "That's essentially a more complicated version of every tinker's dilemma; the only real solution is to prioritize."

"Not necessarily." Amy said, causing all heads to turn her way.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"What if you could be in more than one place at once?" She asked with a cunning little smile that I'd never seen on her before.

"How?"

"Clones, duplicates, doubles, and mental projections, there have to be dozens of abilities out there that can help with this. I've even got something particular in mind if you're interested."

"OK I like this idea so far, more time, more powers, more training, more fun. Shoot."

"Naruto."

My blank stare seemed to disappoint Amy slightly, but the rush of interest from Dennis, Chris, Jeff, and Eugene seemed to buoy her spirits.

"Right! Shadow clones!" Dennis shouted excitedly. "You could be in hundreds of places at once if it works like it does for Naruto."

"Oh man, the Tinkering I could do with hundreds of me! I could take turns getting distracted, and actually finish my projects!" Chris said sounded jealous.

"Dibs on Kakashi! Jeff and Eugene shouted in tandem, before starting to bicker and haggle as the rest of the room promptly tuned them out.

"OK, so what's this show about, and why pick this one?" I asked.

"The show is about ninja's. The main characters are a group of newly minted ninjas who are twelve, or thirteen. It starts off about a fifty fifty mix of dark and sentimental with odd moments of humor. The farther along you get the stupider things get." Amy explained.

"Hey, now wait just a second that's not…. OK, so maybe you have a point." Dennis said.

"No kidding." Amy said rolling her eyes. "The main character is a trained assassin slash warrior, and despite all the ridiculous fights that happen, and all the people who get killed he has yet to kill anyone. Not one person. There are, what's the count at, four immortals all of whom have stupid reasons for being and or wanting immortality? He spent three years training with one of the best ninjas around, and all he learns is how to fight smart. Then once things start to go bad he miraculously starts learning incredibly fast so the author can show us his development step by step. He goes through all his fights with the same two or three jutsu just used in different ways, and the longer the series goes the more it boils down to spam attack the enemy. Plus if you go through the series with a critical eye there are so many things that make little to no sense that it's just laughable. I mean take the end of the chunin exam invasion. I can understand letting sand off the hook, but they don't even retaliate against sound despite an invasion being a clear declaration… of…. war…."

Amy's ill tempered rant started to trail off as she realized that everyone in the room was staring at her.

"I umm, I read a lot of fanfics, it's kind of hard to ignore all the stupid things that happen in the original when someone goes and writes a story where they point out the inconsistencies one way or another." She mumbled.

"OK!" I exclaimed trying to redirect attention away from my new friend. "So Naruto, is some kind of teenage ninja who makes clones, ends up in a bunch of fights, doesn't kill anyone, and the story has lots of inconsistencies after you get far enough into it. That about sum it up?"

"Yeah, that about covers it." Jeff said, shaking off his stupor.

"So the plan is go through a good chunk of the series, and walk out with clone powers so I can be in lots of places doing lots of things at once. Sounds good. Amy, since you seem to know the most about this could you pick out a reasonable, and not stupid portion of the story that I could use? Your welcome to come along too if you want."

Amy bit at her lip. "There are a few fanfics that are a lot higher quality than the original, but the best ones are usually darker… I'm willing to bet you'd rather stay away from anything where you have to kill people… so yeah probably best to just stick with canon… maybe early on or during that training montage after he comes back from the training trip…"

"Yeah, I'd rather not do any killing or bleeding, or be stuck in a male body."

Jeff shot me a sharp look as the words left my mouth. "You're kidding, right?"

"No. Why? What's wrong with not wanting to kill, or be stuck as the opposite sex?"

"Nothing normally, but in your case you might as well be hamstringing yourself." Eugene responded.

"They are correct." Stated Colin, in his usual monotone. "Most forms of fiction that involve powers of any kind also involve conflict. Many stories involving conflict also prominently feature death in one way or another. Furthermore as a general trend in such series the protagonists, and antagonists are more often male than female. This is because such series tend to be geared toward a male audience, and having the reader and protagonist the same gender makes it easier to relate."

"What the boss is trying to say," Dennis chipped in. "Is that in general most powers worth getting come from stories and characters that are all three things you just said you want to avoid."

Squirming in my seat I tried to form a rebuttal.

"I could just pick and choose, take people with me, things like that."

"You could." Colin said, "But then you would be forcing someone else to do the things you are trying to avoid, or limiting yourself. While it might not be a problem now, you need to think long term too. If you are unwilling to go after potentially useful powers it could cost lives at some point down the road. Given time combining your powers in new ways may provide us with new strategies or weapons against the Endbringers, and other dangerous threats. Not to mention they might save your life in an encounter with a villain."

"But that's just…"

I trailed off. What was there to say? Colin was right. Limiting myself to only works that met those criteria would cut me off from a lot of potential abilities. I might hate it, or feel uncomfortable, but if I could save someone down the line, wouldn't it be worth it in the end? But to kill, even if it wasn't real, God I was going to need to work my way up to that. There was no way I could handle it with the realism that came with books. No, I'd have to start with cartoons or video games before I could kill people in books without feeling like a monster. I would just have to develop a new mindset where my power was involved. I could do that, just so long as no one rushed me.

"Alright." I took a deep breath. "Alright, when do we do this, and who's coming with me?"


	31. 4-4

4.4 Ninja's!

Friday came around far too quickly for my liking. Yet here it was, and here I sat in the ready room with Jeff and Eugene standing off to one side, while the Wards piled around me on the couches. Slouched on my shoulder was a napping Beauty while Rocky and diver curled up on Missy's lap.

Standing nervously in front of everyone was Amy. Amy clearly knew more about Naruto than most of us, so we all agreed to let her figure out which part of the story would be best to use. Now a little over two days later we were going to find out what she had chosen.

"We're going right from the beginning up through the end of the wave arc." Amy declared to the room.

"Are you sure?" Dennis asked. "Why not do the training montage where Naruto uses the clones to learn things faster, or why not at least go through the chunin exams? Plenty of good stuff there."

"I'm sure. The reason I want to avoid that particular training montage is twofold. The first reason to avoid it is that wind manipulation really wouldn't be all that useful, at least not how Naruto shows it at that point in the story. The second reason is I don't want anything to do with the immortals. I don't even want to watch them, let alone be them. Anyone who knows who they are want to argue with that logic?"

Several faces around the room got contemplative before various noises of agreement drifted forth.

"Now there isn't anything wrong with the chunin exam, however to take advantage of that we are going to have to consider taking more people, and then what powers would we hope to focus on? How many people were cleared to go on Taylor's latest adventure? Depending on the number we might be able to extend the trip to include the exams."

"You and Taylor are cleared for it, Amy." Carlos answered. "So are Jeff and Eugene. In addition we have orders for one of us to keep an eye on our newest recruits."

Jeff and Eugene shrugged off the last statement with casual disinterest.

"Alright so that's five people which means five roles we can fill." Amy stated. "Just the Wave arc gives us six possible characters Taylor could get powers from; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku. Oh and the demon brothers almost forgot them, but I don't think Taylor wants the power to hide in puddles."

"Wait, hold up. What could Sakura possibly have that could be considered a power before the time skip?" Dennis demanded.

"Tree climbing."

How is climbing trees supposed to be a super power, and why did it matter when we lived in the middle of a city? I wanted to ask but decided to let it go, after all, Amy had to have a reason for mentioning it.

"Is that even worth getting?" Dennis asked, making me feel like my question may have been more justified than I had thought.

Amy shrugged "Maybe, it's not flight, but it could be useful. We could include the chunin exams, but we really only want the clone technique so I don't see much point in going through them."

"What about all the other options that would open up?" Jeff asked.

"Well there would be more options that way, but there are almost too many options at that point. Let's not forget that every one of those options is essentially a one hit wonder anyway, so in the end does it even matter? The only ones who actually bring more than one thing to the table each are Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, Haku, and Zabuza. Also I'd rather try for Naruto before he can summon toads that way there will be one less possible power competing with Taylor's chances of getting shadow clones. Keep in mind the so far Taylor has topped out at three powers from any one character. The more options Naruto develops the lower the odds of getting his clones if there is some kind of cap on how many abilities any one character can give."

"Any proof that there may be a cap, Taylor?" Jeff asked.

"I only got three of nine fire lizards, and there are a few other things that could loosely be called powers that I didn't get from Mario." I offered.

The group seemed to nod thoughtfully.

"Alright sounds good to me." Eugene offered with a big goofy grin. "Manga, or anima, or did you track down a novelization or something?"

"I was thinking manga, if for no other reason than just to see how that particular form of media looks with Taylor's power, unless anyone objects?"

Again I found myself wanting to object, simply because I don't actually know what manga are. But I trust Amy. She was one of my first female friends in years, more importantly she was the first friend I made on my own. Not to say that Missy, Dennis, and the others were not my friends. It is just that they had all made it a point to get to know me, and to make me feel welcome.

Amy was someone that I reached out to, and supported. She was someone that I had made the effort to bring into my life. I was proud of that accomplishment, proud of myself for opening up to trust someone, and even more so for actually being able to help her solve some of the problems in her life. Maybe I was a bad person, a bad friend, for thinking it, but in my mind that made her just a little bit more trustworthy than the others. I hoped that those insecurities would fade with time, but given how Emma had turned on me I knew that it would take some time before I learned to trust everyone equally.

Shaking my head to clear out those bleak thoughts I refocused on the task at hand. "So who's our fifth?"

Dennis and Chris both shot their hands into the air.

"Oi! Dennis, you had your turn already! Let somebody else give it a go." Chris exclaimed.

"But Chris, Ninja's man, how can I turn down such temptation?"

"Oh that's easy, you don't. You just sit there and stew in jealousy over making a stupid suggestion already." Chris teased, grinning madly.

I rolled my eyes and decided to but in before this 'meeting' devolved into a pointless argument.

"Enough. Chris, you can come, and both of you my power is not a toy for you to argue over."

The entire room gave me weird looks.

"What, it's not."

"While I get that it's stupid of them to argue over it you have to admit that your power can be seen as the coolest toy ever. Most powers can be actually, yours more so than most." Eugene interjected.

"Fine, my power is a super cool toy which can make any fan of any fictional universe salivate. I however am a necessity for my power to be used, and I'm not going to be treated as some sort of theme park attendant." I shot back.

"I think Taylor makes a perfectly valid point you guys. This is her power, and you shouldn't be fighting over it." Carlos said.

Giving Carlos a nod in appreciation I turned back to face the grinning group minus the sulking Dennis who I decided to ignore for the time being.

"Amy, I'm assuming you have whatever we need for this right?"

Nodding she handed over the tablet and pointed to a file labeled; 'Naruto Ch 1-33'.

The group gathered round, each placing a hand on one of my shoulder. Taking a deep breath I shot the remaining Wards a grin before clicking on the file. Quickly I felt the familiar tug at my wrists and closed my eyes for a moment. Opening my eyes once again to the sight of the black room, before me a wall of lights, behind me my options, and my friends and teammates all around me.

Jeff and Eugene took a moment to soak in their new surrounding before making a mad dash to the annotated lights, and with almost simultaneous cackles the duo poked a set of lights which promptly faded out, taking them away.

Chris slapped his forehead. "Morons, alright let's see who they nabbed."

Amy glanced over the wall. "Looks like they left us with Team 7, and Haku. Which means at least one of us is going to be gender bending this trip Taylor, both of us if we want to get the most out of this. Chris would you mind taking Haku, I'd like to stick with Taylor for this."

Chris shrugged his shoulders, but stepped up and tapped Haku's light, leaving only Amy and I.

"Alright Taylor, if you want you can take the last girl and I'll take Naruto. I won't hold it against you if you want to take the girl, but she really doesn't have any powers worth mentioning."

Sighing I shook my head. "No that's alright; if I have to get used to this may as well start now. Besides, it wouldn't be right to leave you to suffer by yourself."

"Well alright then! Now do you want to be the emo ass hat, or the hyperactive emotional prankster?"

Both options sounded distinctly unappealing. Brooding and acting like a jerk wasn't even really me, but then neither is running around trying to have touching moments with as many people as possible. Decisions, decisions.

"Alright, I'll take the emo."

"Ok then, you want Sasuke, and before you ask as far as I can tell the U is silent. Oh and I'll be the blond in the orange jumpsuit!"

With that we tapped our respective lights and the story was under way.

{}{}{}{}

Blond in the orange jumpsuit she said. Like that was actually going to help me find her when everything is in freaking black and white! Damn it, Amy! I leaned my head into the desk I found myself at. Oddly enough the fact that I was frustrated and sad seemed to be causing two veritable rivers of tears to stream down my face...

Only twenty minutes in and I'm already finding things to hate here.

Just as I was starting to wonder how the seemingly endless river of tears running down my face was not creating a puddle or even getting my clothes damp an adult carrying a child bound in rope walked into the classroom, promptly dropping the kid in front of the class.

The new arrival pouted adorably as the person I could only assume was an instructor began to lecture him.

"Time for a 'henge no jutsu' test! Everyone line up! Transform perfectly into me!" The instructor shouted.

I, along with the rest of the class, shuffled up to the front of the room forming a line along the desks at the front of the class. One by one the students would be enveloped by a cloud of smoke before taking on the appearance of the instructor. It was an interesting skill, and I found myself trying to think through all of the possible applications of such a skill. Being able to look like a different person would allow me to infiltrate a gang, however I was skeptical of my acting skill being up to such a risky task. Maybe if I got enough practice at filling the rolls of different characters when I used my power I could pull it off. Aside from infiltration I wondered if it was an actual physical change, if that was the case maybe I could even use it day to day. I could subtly change my looks over a few weeks… Maybe something to think on later.

I was jerked out of my thoughts as the boy who had been tied up before stood before the instructor with a wicked smirk that promised nothing but trouble, and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Henge!"

With a surge of visible energy and a massive cloud of smoke the kid vanished, in his place appeared a completely nude bombshell of a young woman with twin pigtails who would have made glory girl feel inadequate. The girl's modesty was protected only by thin wisps of strategically placed smoke. The Instructor instantly rocketed backwards as an impossible amount of blood burst out of his nose.

A blush rose unbidden on my cheeks as I fought the urge to go curl up in a corner while drawing circles on the floor with my finger…

Wait…

What?!

Where the hell did that impulse come from?! What the hell is wrong with this universe?!

"Hehehehehe. Take that! Sexy no jutsu!" The boy giggled. Wait… Why was a twelve year old boy giggling like a teenage girl? God, what the hell is even going on around here!?

"YOU MORON! DON'T INVENT STUPID SKILLS!" The instructor shouted his nostrils now firmly plugged with bloody tissues.

The still giggling kid made his way over to where I stood in line giving me a massive grin. "So Taylor, what did you think of that? God, I wish I could take that figure with me once we're finished you know?"

No way. No freaking way.

"Amy?"

"Of course! Who else?" Amy said, grin widening to impossible dimensions. "Do you want to tag along with me after the scene skip? Not much is going to happen with this first one for you, and it should only last ten or twenty minutes assuming your power doesn't actually make me clean off all the graffiti by hand."

"Graffiti? " I asked, more as a way to stall for time than out of genuine curiosity. Honestly I was completely lost, everything about this story seemed a tad bit insane.

"Yep. Naruto, here tagged what amounts to the village equivalent of Mount Rushmore."

I took a moment to let that sink in. This kid had defaced a national landmark depicting famous leaders and used a transformation ability to turn into a naked woman as some kind of prank or distraction and for some reason Amy seemed to genuinely enjoy being this person.

"I think I'll stay put for now. Maybe tag along for the next one." I deflected as gently as I could.

Shrugging and giving another one of those massive grins Amy vanished from in front of me along with the rest of the class as the lighting shifted. Sitting back down at one of the seats I tried to shift through everything that just happened.

{}{}{}{}

After about ten minutes the class was once again filled with students. Amy sat in front of me and the teacher explained how to pass the exam. Oddly the only requirement was to do one technique... I might not know anything about this series but that seemed… stupid.

Amy was quickly called into a separate room. After another moment the scene once again shifted. I walked outside, now standing in the middle of a crowd of children and adults wearing a band of metal and fabric over my forehead. I watched as Amy took off from the swing set heading in what as far as I could tell was a random direction. Given that I had nothing else to do I decided to try and follow, before I could though the time seemed to shift, and once again I was left alone at the school.

Groaning too myself I found a place to sit, and tried to focus on the script running through my head so I would at least know what was going on.

{}{}{}{}

Finally almost an hour later the classroom filled once again. Amy was sitting next to me.

"Finally! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to be reading about what's going on while it happens? It's even more annoying because you took your time with the whole thing." I huffed out in exasperation.

"Sorry, Sorry. I was just having so much fun!" Amy said with a little giggle. "Do you have any idea how much fun it is to play with the sexy jutsu? It's like taking a shot of liquid confidence! And beating up Mizuki! I always had to be the healer in New Wave, getting the chance to go out and kick ass, was just so… cathartic!"

Amy practically vibrated with her newfound energy. Really the whole thing was pretty adorable all things considered. I started to tune things out as she started talking with some other random kid. Honestly I was glad she was enjoying herself, and considering what I knew of her life with New Wave I could not really begrudge her anything that gave her confidence or made her this happy.

My attention was drawn back into the story as I noticed I had a line coming up. Turning to face Amy I complied with my incredibly crappy dialogue. "What?"

"What do you mean what!?" Amy mock shouted at me, still clearly too giddy to get completely into her role.

Suddenly an extremely loud girl all but vaulted over Amy shouting; "Sasuke-kun can I sit next to you?"

Nearly jumping out of my seat from surprise I shake my head no. Despite this the girl plants herself between Amy and I, smiling creepily. Hopping that if I just ignore the girl the plot will move along and leave her behind I face straight ahead like the little emo I'm supposed to be playing. Before long Amy plants herself in front of me. Her attempt at looking angry is ruined entirely by the knowing smirk that constantly tugs at the edge of her lips. Unsure what to expect I decide to just fallow my role and say my lines.

"Move it!" Amy and I say in tandem.

Then out of nowhere Amy jerks forward… and kisses me on the lips.

My brain shuts down for a few moments as I try to work it out. Amy is kissing me. Amy, is… I don't… What!?

Just as I realize it is part of the scene and doesn't mean anything a new sensation joins the first sensation of the kiss. Amy's lips part slightly, and something smooth slides along the outside of my lips before she pulls back, grins sheepishly, and goes into a show of faked theatric spasms, complete with gagging noises.

My name is Taylor Hebert. The first rose I ever got was given to me so that I could eat it. My first kiss happened under the influence of a hero's 'date rape aura'. Now my second kiss just came from that hero's sister as part of a story we are acting out while both in the bodies of twelve year old boys, and she used his/her tongue.

My romantic life is a burning slag heap of confusion and frustration.


	32. 4-5

4.5 Rope

"Amy."

"Yes Taylor?"

"I don't want to offend you Amy, but after that kiss I think I'm justified in asking, why the HELL are you tying me up!?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry! Please don't hate me!" Amy said as she finished binding my hands behind my back.

"Where did you even learn how to hogtie someone?!"

"I didn't! I'm making this up as I go!" Amy said in a panicked squeak.

Hearing that a massive bead of sweat formed along the side… of my… face…

"Alright stop!" I shouted. "What the hell is with this universe, and all the weird effects?! So far I've cried a river of tears, fought of the impulse to go sit in a corner drawing circles on the floor, seen a rocket nosebleed caused by nudity, and now I've had a ball of sweat materialize on the side of my head! What the hell is all of that?!"

The change of topic seemed to help calm Amy down a bit, though she was still nervously fidgeting as she tied my legs together…

"WHY ARE YOU STILL TYING ME UP?!"

"I'm sorry! I have to! That's what the scene calls for."

My initial response was to start banging my head against the floor, out of habit and common sense I started to reject that reaction. Then I stopped for a moment, and thought about it. This wasn't my real body, so I couldn't do any permanent damage to myself, and more to the point the only one around was Amy so there really wasn't any one around to judge me anyway.

I immediately proceeded to bang my head against the floor.

"Amy, let's try this again. First question what is going on with all the weird reactions?"

There start with the least confusing question, and give both of us time to calm down. That is the smart thing to do, I think. Amy, who was now finished tying me up, propped me against a wall, and sat down cross legged in front of me.

"Well, it's an anime thing I guess. Over the top reactions, and facial expressions, make things more amusing, and with manga it clearly projects the emotions of the character." Amy paused for a moment like she was considering something. "It might be to make sure little kids don't misread facial expressions, or it could be that they make things seem happier."

There, I had an answer for one of many questions, and Amy was at least a tiny bit calmer… right? I mean sure she was dejectedly staring at the floor with spiky… blond? hair covering her eyes… and she looked like she expected me to start cursing her out… Oh hell what am I supposed to do with this situation?

"OK next question. Why did you tie me up?"

"Supposed to, Naruto here has a crush on one of Sasuke's fan girls, the loud girl from before their both teemed with."

"OK, but how does that explain tying me up?" I said trying not to snap at my friend. Judging by how she winced I was not completely successful.

"Naruto ties Sasuke up, and uses a henge to impersonate him. Then he hunts down Sakura and while impersonating Sasuke asks how Sakura truly feels about him. Then he tries to get kiss from her." Amy mumbled. "It almost works to, accept he gets sick at the last second… Shit" Amy hung her head dejectedly in anticipation of the coming unpleasantness.

That actually made me pause for a second. Before I could even run through the implications I found my mouth opening, and spitting out the first thing to come to mind.

"Isn't the author worried about having a pair of twelve year olds in a situation that sounds so… I don't want to say rape like over a kiss, but it certainly opens the door for that possibility you know? You know especially given the fact that they're twelve."

Amy's jaw dropped, before swinging open and closed several times as she tried to process my response. Actually it was pretty amusing to watch, just not amusing enough to take my mind off of the fact that I was tied up, and Amy had kissed me… a little more enthusiastically, than was strictly necessary.

Oh hell, did she know that kiss was going to happen? She must have. She went through and reread a good portion of the series so she must have known. Did she… want to kiss me? My thoughts started to spiral out of control confusion being the primary element, a smaller portion made up of indignation, and a tiny bit of betrayal that she might intentionally have lead me into that kiss.

I shook my head to clear it.

"Amy," her jaw instantly snapped shut as she gave me her undivided attention, "did you plan on that kiss happening?" I was proud of myself that I managed to keep my voice calm and level. Despite only knowing each other briefly, Amy was quickly becoming my best friend, and the person I trusted the most aside from Dad. I needed to know what her intentions were, but I also knew what she had been through over the past few years. If nothing else I refused to do anything to add to her previous suffering.

Slowly she nodded her head a pained expression on her face. "I knew." Amy's voice came out barely a whisper. "I wanted to kiss you. I was hoping I could play it off as just part of the story. Stupid, got carried away, blew it." Amy was starting to sniffle, and cry. Not the stupid fake rivers of tears I dealt with not too long ago, no, real tears.

My mind started grinding to a halt.

Here is Amy, stuck in the body of a dopey looking preteen boy, having a bit of a breakdown because she thought she might have offended me, and ruined our friendship, or maybe over the idea that she had ruined the chance at more than a friendship.

With me.

Amy is turning into a wreck because she thinks she ruined her current, or potential future relationship, with… me.

That's nuts, but it is clearly happening. Who could possibly hold it against her when clearly, for the moment at least, I'm all she has? Wishing more than anything that I was not currently bound hand and foot I do my best to rock myself forward, and sideways. I manage to kick my legs out to the side bringing my upper body forward towards Amy. The result is not exactly what I had intended.

"Ow." Amy rubs at a growing bump from my unintentional head but.

"You're not stupid." I say as I do my best to roll over. I briefly pray it is possible to sound convincing while bound and lying on the floor. "For what it's worth I'm not all that mad… I just didn't see that coming." I mumbled, trying to fight off a bit of a blush. I'm not sure what it says that Amy being so attached to me is making me blush, but, it's a good feeling, whatever it is.

Amy sniffled one last time and rubbed at her eyes. "You're really not mad?"

Fuck this universe and its massive eyeballs! That has to be the single most overpowering display of puppy dog eyes I have ever seen! How could anyone stay angry when faced with that!

Sighing I admitted defeat. "No, I'm not mad. Though we should really talk about this don't you think?"

Amy chewed at her lip for a moment before shaking her head. "I'd rather have this sort of conversation face to face, our real faces, that is. Having an emotional conversation with your current looks is really starting to creep me out, and the view isn't half as nice."

The last part of Amy response took a moment to fully register before a blush started to work its way fully up my cheeks.

"Um, view?"

Now it was Amy's turn to blush furiously. "I ughh, really like your legs, and your eyes are beautiful." She mumbled out.

I could feel my entire face turning red. Amy likes my legs? She thinks my eyes are beautiful? I, wow that, no one ever said anything like that to me before…

Suddenly everything started to fade to black and I felt myself start to slump over fainting.

{}{}{}{}

Grumbling I ripped away the last of the ropes, and the tape that covered my mouth before leaving in search of Amy. I'm really starting to hate the over the top reactions to everything in this universe. Someone tells me that I have nice legs, and eyes and I feint! The hell is wrong with the Japanese? This is all so ridiculous. Meanwhile in the background is the fact that the series is about twelve and thirteen year old assassins, so really it's a story about child soldiers except for the fact that apparently none of them are traumatized or even worried about the idea of killing.

Amy mentioned that it was an Earth Alph series. One of thousands that Dragon oversaw the transfer of, so I couldn't really cross dimensions to tell the author I think his story is flawed… Maybe I could find out if he exists in earth Bet and send him a list of things he could do better. Maybe get him to try writing a more serious competing series. Something to ask Amy about, or maybe Dragon, speaking of whom I still owed her a tinker power or two so she could satisfy her curiosity.

Not that I was in a rush to start tinkering, I knew almost beyond any shadow of a doubt that once I did I would have even less free time. Well hopefully this new clone power would help to solve that little issue.

Walking through a courtyard the loud shrill girl from earlier all but latched onto me.

"OH Sasuke-kun you're so shy! I hope you are ready now? I sure am!"

Ready? Ready for what exactly? Oh well not worth worrying about I needed to find Amy.

"I have to go. Where's Naruto?"

"HEHE, don't change the subject. Who cares about Naruto? All he does is cause fights with you."

Really? This girl is supposed to be part of a three person team and she just dismisses the third member like it's nothing? This could only end badly.

"Well he doesn't have a normal childhood… so…" The Girl continued to rant. "He doesn't have parents! He can do whatever he wants. If I acted like he does my parents would ground me for months. He's so lucky, all alone, parents never say what to do and what not to do. That's why he always makes trouble."

Jeez, who the hell is this idiotic pretty princess? Was she dropped on her oversized head as a kid? Even at twelve could kids really be that stupid? Or was she trying to impress the character I was playing by belittling and bullying the other boy? Or, maybe the author was just using her as a poorly veiled way to introduce this 'Sasuke's' baggage. Taking a quick glance at my upcoming lines I decided last seemed the most likely. Grinning internally I decided to enjoy my next few lines. Giving some bully a reality check was something I had always dreamed of doing in person.

"All alone…" I said trailing off as dramatically as possible.

"Huh?"

"The feeling of a parent yelling at you is nowhere near what he felt…"

The panicked look on the girls face was unbelievably cathartic. "What's wrong Sasuke-kun?"

"Your annoying…" I said pumping as much cold indifference into the lines as I could. Slowly I turned, and walked away from the bully. Inwardly I was patting myself on the back from turning the tables on that kind of person even if I was following a script.

Now where oh where had Amy gone?

As if to answer my question a small dust cloud raced toward me before resolving itself into Amy skidding to a halt in front of me. Funnily enough she still looked rather green. I guess she really hadn't been sick since she got her powers.

"Eh heh heh What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Real Shinobi can untie ropes." I decided to skip the next few lines. Following a script or not I did not feel comfortable insulting Amy right now, not when things between us were so awkward. "Come on Amy, we should at least try to talk a little before we have Jeff or Eugene hanging around don't you think?"

"No! Really Taylor, I don't want to have this conversation in these bodies!"

Dragging Amy along behind me I headed toward the classroom.

"Amy," I took a second to glance through the script for upcoming scenes. "we have one last time skip we can drag out to talk before either Jeff or Eugene shows up as this team instructor with the one eye."

"Kakashi." Amy supplied.

"Right, him. So this is our last chance to talk in private before we can get out of here." I said closing the door behind us. Amusingly enough I got to slam it in the face of the aggravating girl from before. Sadly she just opened the door before going to sulk and lean against one of the desks. Annoying, I'd have preferred her stay outside, automaton or not having a private conversation with someone else in the room just felt… wrong. Though I suppose my power coming with an autopilot for events that happen off screen or between described moments is a necessity.

Amy just ran straight for the blackboard. "Really Taylor this is not a conversation I want to have when we look like this." She said gesticulating wildly. "Besides I'd really appreciate the chance to get my thoughts in order. So please can we just put this off, for a little while? Give me a chance to get my head on straight, please."

What could I say to that? Given what her last crush, although that wasn't really a strong enough word for it, had been like this had to be as confusing for her as it was for me. I had already established I wasn't angry. I could push the issue with her now and clear the air, or I could let her collect her thoughts and try to think this through myself a bit. Better still I could try and loose myself in the story and let the whole thing sit in the back of my mind where it would hopefully untangle itself for me by the time we got out.

"OK Amy, we can put this off for a little while, but not forever. You're basically my best friend, I lost my last one, still don't know why, but I'm not ready to lose another. So promise me once were out we sit down and talk this out. Because one way or another I want you to stick around, OK?"

Amy gave me a hesitant smile. "OK Taylor, I promise. Once were finished here we'll talk."

"Oh Amy?"

"Yeah"

"You know how you said all those weird responses are supposed to mean something right?"

"Mhm"

"What's fainting supposed to mean?"

Amy tripped over what seemed to be nothing face planting on the ground. The chalkboard eraser in her hand went flying. At that moment the door slid open and a tall man who had all of his face save for one eye covered, and with gravity defying hair walked in… and was promptly hit in the face by the flying eraser.

The masked man simply sighed. "Hey guys. My first impression of this place is I've been cheated."

Once more the annoying body effects took over as I felt a sweat drop form on the back of my head. "Um what are you talking about? And are you Jeff or Eugene? You two both took off without even telling us who you grabbed as your roles."

"Oh it's me, Jeff. What I meant was Kakashi's famous orange book is in Japanese, so I can't actually read it like I was hoping to." The now identified Jeff explained.

Amy, now sporting some kind of tick mark over her head mumbled something about perverted bastards before following Jeff's retreating form.

Momentarily admitting defeat in the face of overwhelming insanity I hung my head, and walked after them.


	33. 4-6

4.6 Team Time

I could only wince as I watched Amy arc through the air after Jeff shoved a few fingers up her ass. Idly in the back of my mind I wondered if kissing me was really worth putting up with this, or if she had just focused so much on that aspect that she ignored the downsides. Either way it was, flattering. I could feel a bit of heat in my cheeks. No one had ever thought of me like that before…

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I refocused on the fight in front of me and raised an eyebrow as a pair of ninja stars… what had they called them shuri something? Shrugging it off as unimportant I had to wonder how they could possibly be thrown from underwater. The water resistance on the limb and the projectile should have meant the little weapons would only sink to the bottom of the river.

I was also slightly bothered by how easily Jeff was able to catch the projectiles. That kind of time and fine control was insane it would take months of practice for any normal person to catch two ninja stars by putting their fingers through the holes in the middle with our slicing up there other finger. It was a stupid trick. Moving out of the way would be so much simpler!

Obviously these manga liked to ignore common sense to some degree or another. Maybe Amy was right and the, what did she call them, fanficks, are better than the original.

Not that I would ever get the chance to do a comparison of them given that I couldn't really take a few days to live out every one, or even a few of those stories to get a feel for them. Besides which I was… less than excited about finding myself in an… unexpected situation, and being unable to stop reading. I had little to no illusions about some of what might go on in stories written by random people. Sex was a given, torture a distinct possibility, depending on the series, for one reason or another. No I had no intention of being trapped in anyone that might wind up in those sorts of situations. If I had to be characters that killed, well I suppose I'd have to get used to that. But I sure as hell wasn't about to jump at every unpleasant situation that mankind had ever thought to put to paper.

Oh my God…. I have to make sure to clear everything I will ever read or watch ahead of time to be sure there are no rape scenes.

I think I would have fallen out of the tree if not for the fact that my whole body seemed to seize up at just the concept.

Shivering, I did my best to throw off the concept and direct my focus anywhere else just in time to see a half dozen Amy/Naruto's burst from the river like they'd been shot out of a cannon. Another thing I was fairly certain most if not all humans are physically incapable of. This must be the much talked about shadow clone ability.

Suddenly out of nowhere one of the many Amy's latched onto Jeff's back , despite being impressed I couldn't shake a couple of questions; how did that one get there because I sure as hell hadn't seen it, and if he actually got the drop on the older ninja why not grab the bells which are the entire point of the test and could have been easily snagged? Wait… hold on! Jeff had been facing the direction that clone came from not even a second ago! How the heck did that clone get behind him? Do manga just disregard things when they are not in their favor?

Once more I was dragged out of my thoughts as Amy hit one of her clones which quickly devolved into a brawl between the Amy's. Suddenly I was very glad Clockblocker wasn't here to make a catfight joke, or a twin joke, both maybe…

From the way the clones had been described to me they vanished after one hit…. So why was it that none of the clones popped…. I really need to talk with these guys later this story wasn't even being consistent with its own rules! This is just sloppy story telling.

As I watched I saw Amy trigger a rope snare and wind up hanging from a tree. Shaking my head and following the script I half-hazardly launched a small barrage of throwing knives and ninja stars. Somehow, because I know it had nothing to do with my abilities, the blades flew true imbedding themselves into Jeff.

I was never so happy that I could see what was coming next than in that moment, because thinking I had somehow managed to kill Jeff, even if he would be fine once all is said and done would have been…. I'm just not going to go there. I only just started to feel good about myself again, I'm not about to throw that away on a "what if" in a manga.

Watching as Jeff's form was replaced by a puff of smoke and a log I took off into the trees.

{}{}{}{}

I could hear the light sound of footsteps and the quite rustle of fabric brushing against fabric from behind me all but buried under the noise of wind whipping through the trees.

Showtime

"I'm not the same as them." I spoke without even turning around

"Say that after you get a bell." Jeff responded, a little bit of amusement in his voice. "The village's most powerful clan, the Uchiha clan… This could be interesting."

Crouching low I reach into my pouches and grab a trio of throwing stars, how I manage that without nicking myself on the blades I may never know, and launch them at Jeff who leaps aside.

Even with every move being pre-established there is a rush of adrenaline that races through me as the fight begins. That first fight, if it can even be called that, against Uber and Leet is mostly a vague blur in my memory, the overwhelming sensation being shocked that I was actually in a cape fight. This on the other hand, this is a rush.

I take one last glance at the instructions in my head as the throwing stars slice through the rope of my trap, launching a barrage of knives at Jeff. As he leaps away once more I let out the breath I'd been holding taking off like a rocket.

As Jeff's foot sets down on the ground I'm already behind him in mid air and my foot is flying towards his face. Jeff casually blocks the swing with one arm and grabs my ankle with the other. Using his grip as leverage I swing a wild powerful strike at his head with my right fist. Once more Jeff catches the offending limb with ease. Finally in a display of core strength I know my real body could never accomplish my remaining leg follows up in a third attempt to pound Jeff's head into the ground.

Now inverted my only free limb, my left hand shoots out and taps one of the two bells tied to Jeff's waist.

Jeff launches us apart. Deciding I really couldn't care less about dialogue right this second I start to make hand signs in a blur of motion. Taking a deep breath I let a manic grin spread across my face as I let loose a massive ball of fire.

The fireball was impressive, though it would have been more impressive had it come with a nonlethal setting, or if I didn't already have two other powers that allowed me to launch fireballs. Also the hand signs annoyed me, no way could I pull those off without muscle memory I did not want to spend time developing.

I was quite literally dragged out of my thoughts as Jeff's hand popped out of the ground and pulled me down into it.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number three, ninjutsu. Well you're already way further with this than the others. But hey, they say an exposed nail should be hammered in." Jeff said as he walked away chuckling.

"Damn it…"

{}{}{}{}

"So Amy… What did you call these box lunches again?" I asked, teasing.

"Bento." Amy grumbled.

"Right, right. You know some of this stuff is pretty good, though I'm not all that sure about some of it." I comment idly while waving with the chopsticks I barely knew how to use.

Amy simply grumbles from where she is tied up. Deciding the joke has worn itself out I offer her a piece of what I assume to be sushi.

"Alright Amy, I'm sorry for teasing you. Say ahh." I gave her my best impish grin to take the sting out of the teasing.

Grinning widely in return Amy leans forward as much as the ropes allow, and takes the piece of rice wrapped fish. She smiles widely as she chews.

Just as she swallows Jeff races across the clearing in a storm of dust and leaves.

"YOU GUYS!"

"Pass."

I shrug. "That's nice. Amy, do you want another piece of this?" I ask proffering another sushi roll.

"Yes please."

Jeff falls flat on his face causing Amy and I to laugh.

{}{}{}{}

Walking through the forest was rather peaceful; the quite gave me a good chance to organize my thoughts a bit. Of course that was broken when the annoying girl started talking, but I quickly tuned out that conversation.

Amy certainly went to great lengths just for a simple kiss. There are probably dozens of shows or movie's she could have scammed me into that would have had better kiss scenes than this manga. She could have easily picked just about anything but instead she chose Naruto. Why? To be subtle? Or was she just jumping at the opportunity.

More importantly should I be worried about how quickly she had decided she wanted to date me? She had only just gotten out from under Glory Girls aura. Maybe she was just rebounding…. Was it a bad thing to be someone's rebound? Did that mean once she had some of the built up tension out of her system she would just move one? Or was she interested in me because I saved her from her sisters aura? Should I be worried that I was somehow taking advantage of her?

Wait…. Was I really considering going out with her? I mean I've always liked boys, but… Amy did have those beautiful light brown eyes with flecks of darker brown around the center. And she liked me, had gone out of her way, and chosen to accept a super powered ass poke along with whatever other injuries await us… all for one, small, awkward kiss.

That was a lot more interest than anyone else had ever shown… Not to mention what an amazing healer she was, she needed someone to force her to step back and slow down before she burned herself out but still it was easy to tell she was a true hero through and through. She really did have a lot of great qualities… maybe… it certainly couldn't hurt to give it a try… but, maybe I should get to know her first? Maybe give her a few weeks to let her emotions settle first then maybe a date?

Oh I don't know!

"Taylor, Konoha to Taylor." Jeff all but yelled.

"I'm sorry, did you say something Jeff?" I asked.

For a moment there was silence. Then Amy burst out into a fit of giggles and actually had to stop walking or risk toppling over as her giggles quickly grew out of control.

Jeff's face, or what I could see of it anyway, seemed to crumble. "I, I just gave the whole background info dump on the world of ninja… and you weren't even paying attention?"

I shook my head in the negative.

Jeff's shoulders slumped for a moment before shaking off his funk as he shook a fist in the air. "Curse you Taylor, and your hip attitude!" He shouted.

Amy who was just starting to recover from her laughing fit now fell fully onto the ground as she laughed with tears of mirth rolling down her eyes.

While I know I'm missing some sort of inside joke, and I'm curious how much of Amy's reaction is caused by how funny or not whatever is going on might be verses all of the strange physical responses that keep cropping up, however most of me is too preoccupied with being happy that I made Amy laugh like this.

Suddenly the air filled with the noise of chains. And in a heartbeat Jeff is diced into pieces. I can feel my mind starting to shut down as the rush of adrenaline pounds through my veins. I don't have the muscle memory for any kind of combat, let alone fighting against two opponents with such outlandish weapons. Luckily I have a script to fall back on. I let the adrenaline and the instructions which in that moment feel all but hardwired into my mind take over.

I leap into the air and launch a ninja star followed shortly after by a throwing knife I pin the attacker's chain to a tree. Rather than land on the ground I plant one foot on each attacker's gauntlet, quickly grabbing a gauntlet with each hand I kick back with my feet to nail both assailants in the face, forcing them to abandon the chain and launch a pincer attack one goes for Amy the other heads towards the bridge builder and annoying girl.

Still allowing myself to be swept along in the script I all but materialize in front of Sakura as she attempts to guard the client.

Then as quickly as it all started it's over. Jeff appears out of nowhere to clothesline the charging assailant; whose partner is already slumped unconscious under Jeff's other arm.

Taking a moment to shake off the rush I glanced down at the injured Amy and sighed.

"Well, looks like it's finally your turn to need a healer, huh Amy?"

{}{}{}{}

As the boat slipped through the mist I couldn't help but glance around. I'm sure ninja didn't really take up this sort of work but on the other hand this is sort of fun playing make believe and running around trying to protect someone from assassins. Amy's shouts drag my attention off of the misty water and onto the sight of a massive bridge made up of round pillars and a flat surface laid over the top.

"You know… I'm fairly certain that bridge should be falling into the water the way it's designed." I said.

"Really?" Amy asked, sending me a questioning look.

"Yeah, all large scale bridges have either triangles or arches, sometimes both, but never right angles. If the Pillars weren't rounded and if there weren't so many I'd say it was destined to collapse. And even with those facts I'm still not sure that design can actually work. Super bridge builder, yeah right." I finish sarcastically.


	34. 4-7

4.7 How Tinkers Kill Time.

After a short walk through town our group once again found itself trekking through the woods on a dirt road. We were supposed to be on high alert for the impending attack by Eugene as Zabuza, however the yelling we had been hearing for almost a minute had essentially ruined any and all dramatic tension.

"No, no, no, no. Listen Chris, I know the idea was to come up with the most badass ideas possible but a sniper scythe? Are you out of your mind do you have any idea how much something like that would weigh? The only way someone is going to be able to swing something like that around is with a brute rating! And besides which, a scythe, really? There are dozens of more practical melee weapons out there!"

We finally arrived at the source of the yelling to find a man in cow print arm warmers and pants who was not wearing a shirt arguing with what looked like a young teen in a kimono with a mask pulled up and resting on top of their head. Both are hunched over scratching drawings into the dirt.

"Oh right because, your idea for shotgun/nunchaku makes so much more sense! The only thing something like that would be good for is shooting yourself in the foot!"

"OK look maybe _I_ couldn't pull it off but a cape who can perceive time at a faster than average rate might be able to use something like that!"

"Oh so it's alright if your insane weapon idea requires a bit of super power help but the minute I want to design a weapon that weighs more than ten pounds you say it calls for a brute rating?"

Amy started to move forward but I grabbed her wrist and shook my head no. I wanted to see how long it took for them to notice us. Besides this sounded like it would be an amusing conversation.

"What?! Why you little, that stupid scythe idea of yours would weigh a hell of a lot more than ten pounds! A 50cal sniper rifle on its own weighs almost thirty pounds! You want to take that, extend the barrel, make the barrel sturdy enough to swing around in hand to hand combat, then you want to attach to this monstrosity two large blades! Each of those blades you designed has to weigh at least eight to ten pounds probably more. Even if you ground it with the blades this design is going to be insanely inaccurate because the firing position is going to be so awkward, and then on top of all that you want to make it collapsible. Even using tinker alloys and using Halbeards optimization tech you're looking at something that would weigh at least forty to fifty pounds! No one, save a brute, is going to be able to use that thing, and again scythe's are not the most user friendly weapons. Hell, they are a terrible weapon in general! Dramatic as hell yes, but still a terrible weapon."

The teen growled audibly. "Listen here Mr. one hit wonder, you didn't let me finish. First of all I plan to have the scythe blade line up with the barrel at the start of a swing and then fold in to hook on the enemy as you carry out the swing, second between the collapsed form and the scythe form I plan to have a straight up sniper mode so it can be used to shoot accurately, finally if you paid attention you would have noticed this bit, right here!" The teen jabbed at part of the drawing in the dirt.

"And that would be what exactly?"

The teen grinned cheekily. "Where I plan to install the same sort of antigrav generator I use in my hoverboard."

"…Huh."

"See!"

"Ok, maybe that could work. You think you can get the antigrav calibrated properly to give it the kind of balance you'd have with just a plain staff?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. I've never tried anything like it before but can you imagine if it worked?"

"If it worked as your advertising I think it would be safe to say you win."

"Shame I'll never be able to build her."

"Wait, what?! You can't come up with something that awesome and not build it! That would be sacrilege!"

"Man I hear you, but what would be the point? I'd never get it cleared by PR. I could change the sniper design so that it fires lasers, or plasma, or a shock charge like my pistols, but even then it's still a freaking scythe in melee mode, no way could I get that by them."

"Man that sucks. Army carries around a medieval pig sticker. Why can't you?"

"I don't know, I'm just a Ward and he's a full member of the Protectorate? Mine would actually work as a bladed weapon as opposed to something that looks like a bladed weapon, but is actually something completely different for whatever stupid reason he has."

"Probably marketing."

"Yeah that makes sense. Asshole."

"Heh, isn't that asshole supposed to be your boss?"

"Hey, he's your boss too now remember, besides aren't all bosses supposed to be assholes."

"Eh, more or less. Still we might be able to find a way to get it past PR if we can make the blade nonlethal… So do you think we can actually use any of these designs?"

"Maybe a few of them. I could see Carlos rocking that shield you came up with, and I think Missy would give up hot chocolate for a month if it meant getting her hands on the tonfa I sketched out near the beginning. Of course we would need to trade out the bullets for containment foam in both cases but still."

"Oh yeah that was a cool design. Hey how much longer do you think we have to wait?"

"Oh I'd say not too much longer." Jeff called out with a chuckle.

Spinning around at the sound of Jeff's voice the duo finally noticed us.

"Hello!" I waved cheerily.

The older man, Eugene if the conversation was anything to go by, developed a spontaneous eyebrow twitch... despite lacking eyebrows. "You don't really get the concept of staying in character do you?" He asked.

"To be fair Taylor barely even knows how Sasuke is supposed to act." Amy defended me.

"Eh, fair enough. Shame we ruined the whole dramatic entrance by arguing about theoretical weapon designs in the middle of the road though." Chris said.

Eugene seemed to perk up. "Hey that's right now that you're here we can finally have our battle!"

Chris's shoulders slump. "Oh come on! When do I get a chance! Two and a half hours, and I haven't been able to do a single thing as Haku!"

"Well you get to knock me out with senbon in a few minutes."

Chris got a dangerous look in his eyes. "What's to stop me from just knocking you out right now and hurrying this along to the battle on the bridge?" He asked brandishing what looked like a pair of sharpened knitting needles.

Eugene seemed to go pale. "Ummmm without a demonstration Taylor's power might not give her anything from this fight?"

Chris contemplated that for a moment before sighing. "Fine, fine. I'll just use this time to come up with an even more badass weapon for our competition, maybe some kind of war hammer..." With that said Chris leapt away into the tree line.

Eugene straightened and picked up a massive blade taller than himself, hefting it over one shoulder.

"Well then this might be a lot less dramatic, but you should all," he was interrupted midsentence by Chris's temporary voice hollering from the tree line.

"DUCK!" A pair of needles flew out of the foliage heading straight for Eugene who cursed and jumped out of the way.

Jeff, Amy, and I watched with sweat drops on our faces.

"Damn it Chris, you icicle slinging ass! Nock that off or I'll come up there and lop off an arm!"

"Ha! You wouldn't even have room to swing that damn thing up here in the trees moron!"

Grumbling, Eugene turned to face us hefting the sword once more. "Let's just get this over with."

With that said Eugene hopped back onto the surface of the water making a set of hand signs. Immediately the surrounding area was flooded with mist. "Ninpou… Hidden mist no jutsu."

Jeff pulled up his head band reveling a red eye with three black spinning comma marks circling the iris.

"He'll come after me first." It was clear from Jeff's voice that he was trying to be dramatic but his excitement carried through despite his efforts. "Mamochi Zabuza… as a member of the hidden mist… He was known as an expert of the silent killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead. It's not like I can use the Sharigan perfectly, you guys be careful."

Suddenly the mist swells, surrounding us making it all but impossible to see more than a few feet.

"Eight choices; liver, lungs, spine, cervical vein, carotid artery, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after." Eugene's voice bounced around the small forest clearing making it impossible to pinpoint his location. In all honesty it would have been a terrifying speech if only he didn't sound like an excited child… Then again that made it creepy in a different way.

Honestly though what was the point of carrying around a blade so massive if you were trying to silently assassinate someone by aiming for a lethal point? Never mind, trying to rationalize this series has so far proven pointless; no reason to assume things would make more sense now.

Suddenly a suffocating aura of malice blankets the field. It reminds me vaguely of Glory Girls aura when it is set to fear.

Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! I am not dealing with this shit again!

"Eugene, nock that off right this instant or I swear I'm leaving you behind next time! I _hate_ this sort of mental power! Drop it, now!"

"Buh, but Taylor!"

"Now Eugene! Do not make me start counting!"

"But!"

"ONE!"

"Common!"

"TWO!"

"Oh fine! You win, damn it! Ruin the tension why don't you!" Eugene pouted.

Amy giggled. "Never a dull moment with you is there Taylor?" She asked.

"Oh you know me, going places I've never heard of, doing things I never wanted to, keeping rabid fans from getting carried away by their favorite fictional universes. All in a days' work for you're not so average Ward." I snarked back.

"You know," Jeff said speaking blandly. "you could try and enjoy this. You know make the most of it?"

"I still want to do the Princess bride." I mumbled

Immediately Amy materialized in front of my face with little stars literally shining in her eyes.

"Please, please, please take me with you when you watch it? The girl begged.

"OK! Enough!" Eugene shouted as he materialized behind Amy and I.

In a blur of motion Jeff drove a knife into Eugene's gut causing him to… explode into water?

"Sensei, behind you!" Amy shouted.

Too late unfortunately as the massive blade Eugene carried sliced Jeff in half at the waist. Only he too exploded into water.

"Don't move." Jeff intoned as he held a blade a mere inch from Eugene's neck. "It's over."

"Hehe." Eugene chuckled faux darkly. "There is no way you can defeat me with those monkey like imitations. Hehe, but that was impressive of you. You already copied my water clone jutsu. You had your clone speak, to attract my attention… while the real you stayed in the mist and watched. Nice plan. But…"

Suddenly another Eugene materialized behind Jeff and spoke.

"I'm also not that easy."

Eugene wound his arms back for a massive power swing, which swept at Jeff who dropped to the dirt only avoiding the massive blade by a few inches. Rather than try and stop his swing and reverse the direction of the blade Eugene let it continue on, burying the swords tip into the dirt.

Now braced against the handle of his massive sword Eugene used the leverage to launch a sweeping kick into Jeff's side.

Hauling the sword out of the dirt Eugene started to charge forward only to be brought up short by a line of caltrops.

Before Amy or I could even move Jeff landed with a splash in the nearby lake, and Eugene shimmered out of existence. After a few short moments the mist thinned out slightly showing Jeff completely trapped in an orb of water that Eugene seemed to maintain through hand contact.

With another hand sign a clone made of water formed in front of us.

"Hehe wearing those headbands and acting like ninjas." Eugene intoned darkly. "A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Only when you are good enough to be listed in my bingo book can you start calling yourselves ninjas."

In a blur of speed the clone shot forward and kicked Amy in the head sending her flying back and knocking loose her headband.

"Amy!" For a brief moment I panicked before rationality set in once more. She would be fine, she might be in pain now, but none of the injuries I'd gotten had ever carried over before. She would be ok in time.

"Take Tazuna-san and run! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he keeps me trapped in this prison he can't move!" Jeff shouted. "The water clone cannot go very far from his real body! Just run away now!"

…How could he be shouting from inside a compressed ball of water? Hell how was he even breathing? Was the mask some kind of ninja cloth re-breather or something? No, that would just be stupid. Must just be another example of the author ignoring logic because it turned out to be inconvenient.

With a wild war cry Amy took off like a shot from a gun in a head on charge towards the clone.

"No don't!" Jeff yelled. Again how?!

"He…" I muttered. Why are all of my lines this pathetic?

"Naruto, what are you thinking?!" Shouted Sakura.

In a blur of motion that I think is a right cross Amy is sent flying and skids almost ten feet along the ground.

"What are you doing attacking him all by yourself?! We genin have no chance against him!" Sakura screeched.

Amy shakily made her way back onto her feet with her head band clenched in one hand.

Pivoting on one foot with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth Amy turned to face the clone once more. "Hey you, eyebrow-less freak… Put this in your bingo book. The man who will one day become hokage…" Amy stood up straight and retied the headband around her forehead. "Leaf ninja Uzumaki Naruto!"

Heh, looks like Amy is really getting into this. The line was a bit overly dramatic, but I think I could let that slide, after all Amy certainly seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Sasuke, Listen!"

"What is it?"

"I've got a plan."

Alright plans are good…

"Pft.. teamwork from you?"

"Now, let's go wild!"

Wait… what? What's the plan supposed to be?!

With an insane cackle the clone took off at speeds that could probably earn it a low level mover rating, and slammed into me with its elbow knocking me back. Before I could even process the pain in my chest I was slammed down by a back fist. I coughed up blood, tasting copper on my tongue. I tried to focus on something other than the pain in my badly bruised chest.

"Sasuke!" Damn that fangirl, couldn't she tell I was in too much pain to consciously tune out her screeching?

"Die…" The clone said in a rather freaky monotone.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke erupted around the clone and I. As the smoke cleared it revealed a small platoon of Amy/Naruto's each wielding a knife in a reversed grip. I staggered off as best I could while the Amy clones launched themselves at the water clone.

Sadly in the blink of an eye the Amy clones were dispatched with rapid, wild, sword strikes.

"Sasuke!" Amy shouted, as she tossed me what looked like a giant curved blade with a circular grip at the base.

Looking down at it I realized it was in fact four blades.

…OK I give up what am I supposed to do with this?

Glancing ahead a few panels I quickly piece together what I'm supposed to do. A quick flick of the wrist and three of the four blades swing out and lock into position every ninety degrees. I grin evilly as I hold up massive throwing star four feet in diameter.

"Evil wind shuriken… shadow windmill!" I intone as I launch myself into the air.

A few spins of the wrist and an almighty heave send the free flying rotary saw past the clone and after the real Eugene, another flick of the wrist while everyone focuses on the first shuriken launches the one Amy tossed me directly behind the first keeping it somewhat hidden in the first's shadow.

"I see you're aiming it at the real me, but" Eugene and his clone spoke in tandem. "that's not enough!" The real Eugene said as he swiped the first shuriken out of the air.

I was begging to question the point of shuriken seeing as everyone worth anything seemed to just snatch them out of the air.

"Another one in the shuriken's shadow!" Eugene exclaimed.

Hmm, maybe I spoke to soon?

"But still not enough." Eugene taunted as he leapt over the whirling dervish of death.

Never mind. I was right the first time. If even that stupidly complicated trick shot couldn't land a hit on him it was obvious these things did little to no good without some form of convoluted plan.

The shuriken Eugene had just leapt over was momentarily obscured by a cloud of smoke before Amy, the real one this time, appeared launching a throwing knife at the now airborne Eugene's head. With his only options being to take the hit or move Eugene abandoned the water prison jutsu.

Spinning around Eugene attempted to launch an attack at Amy only to be stopped by the metal backed glove on Jeff's hand.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The banshee screamed.

"Great plan Naruto"

"Heh" Amy chuckled.

"I got distracted and released the jutsu." Eugene whined.

"Wrong, you were forced to release it. I'll tell you that I don't fall for the same jutsu twice. What will you do?" Jeff asked.

Eugene only scoffed before the two leapt apart in a massive spray of water. The combatants then raced through a lengthy series of hand signs.

The result was spectacular.

Two massive dragon heads made of water reared up out of the surface of the lake before charging one another, circled slightly and then slammed together, the surge of water overflowing the banks and flooding the nearby area.

In the aftermath the two came together in a clash of blades Eugene using his massive sword while Jeff somehow stopped the much heavier blade with a simple knife.

The two broke apart, and their movements a perfect mirror of each others. I could hear them murmuring but not the words.

"Damn you, I'll make it so you can never open that mouth again!" Eugene screamed.

Jeff's hands which had been nothing but a blur finally came to a stop and a massive vortex of water even larger than the dragons had been launched forward sending Eugene careening into a tree.

Over the noise of the chaotic waves and receding water four meaty thumps could be heard. A throwing knife was now embedded in each of Eugene's limbs.

I had to wonder why the character Jeff played did not just use the opportunity to kill Zabuza.

"How?" Eugene asked. "Can you see the future?"

"Yeah, you're going to die." Jeff answered.

Seemingly from nowhere a pair of needles materialized in Eugene's neck.

"Hehe. You're right, he is dead." Glancing up I saw Chris now wearing his mask down over his face. Chris vanished in a swirl of leaves before reappearing crouched over Eugene. "I'll be off now, see you all soon!" He chirped before once more vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"Alright then, time to get going!" Jeff said… before falling flat on his face.

I glanced over at Amy.

"Do you think we can just let the scene change now or should we make Sakura carry him?"

AN: Heck yes finished cross posting this fic! Now onto cross posting my other stuff! For those of you who are not familiar with my stories from Sufficient Velocity the next post of this story has been a real pain in the ass for more than a month now, but I've posted updates after longer breaks than that so don't worry my muse will calm down eventually and cough up the next update sooner or later.


	35. 4-8

AN: Hello everyone here on ! wow really blown away by the response this has gotten and I'm glad to announce the return of my first fic! That said this whole arc was a mistake. Going into this much detail quoting all these lines it made this more of a project in patience and transcribing than creative and fun, at least for me and that killed my drive to write... Which is how I ended up with my other three fics. Hopefully now I'll update this a bit more often.

Edit: Why does it keep eating my formatting! all that pain in the ass underlining and it eats it! but noooo it can't eat all of it instead it just eats chunks of it. so much bullshit to redo.

* * *

4.8 Battle at the "Bridge"

"Amy, please tell me we're almost done with this." I asked as Sakura launched into a rant about Chakra.

"Well a few accelerated training scenes, a few touching moments between myself and Inari, and the bridge battle. Then we are done." Amy gave me an apologetic smile.

Shrugging I did my best to put on a professional attitude. "That's fine, this hasn't been my favorite experience, but it is taking less time than Pokémon, and after Mario… this isn't so bad. Besides I should be apologizing to you, you're the one getting beat on all the time in here."

Amy's cheeks pinked slightly. "That's alright; it's worth the chance to play the hero. Oh hang on line coming up. Hey?! Hey?! I didn't understand that complicated explanation but isn't that something you learn with your body?"

"Naruto is right. We can already use jutsu." Hmm that might be the most sensible line this Sasuke character had yet.

"Nope! You guys aren't using chakra properly." Jeff intoned.

"What?!" Amy exclaimed in mock indignation.

"Well listen…"

Oh for the love of… we just got through one lecture why the hell is Jeff subjecting us to a second one. I wonder how I can get to pick the next thing I use my power on. I still want to see the Princess Bride from the first person point of view. Not to mention a hand full of childhood classics that I hadn't read in awhile the Maggie Holt series had captured my imagination as a child, and later so to had its lighter toned earth Alph counterpart the Harry Potter books. Both were enthralling in their own ways not to mention I was curious to see what my power would give me from such diverse universes.

I still wanted a flight power, and maybe laser vision, after all there came a time in everyone's life when they felt the need to set someone on fire with their eyes, actually being able to sounded appealing.

Of course my time would probably be better spent looking for a power that could kill the Enbringers. That would probably be the best thing I could possibly do with my time, sadly the director still wouldn't let me near anything that potent.

"Hmm tree climbing!" Jeff shouted breaking my train of thought.

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Focusing for a moment I launched myself toward the tree before running straight up the side for six steps before the bark cracked and once more I tumbled through the air only to land in a crouch at the base of the tree.

"So Amy, what have you been up to lately besides researching to help me out?"

"Well I'm trying to work out a deal with director Piggot to stay on base permanently. I offered to heal some of her old injuries that caused her health to deteriorate as well as perform my powers equivalent of liposuction. She never asked for healing in the past, but I'm hopping making it a business transaction will give her more of a reason to trust me to do my job."

"Wait so you may not need to move out at all?" It would be nice to have another girl around the base. Missy and I were fairly outnumbered not to mention the idea of my Amy living at my work, which also happened to be where I spent the majority of my free time.

I think I like this plan.

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"Wow this is super fun! It's been so long since we ate with so many people!" Tazuna shouted while Amy and I chowed down on bread and fish stew.

"More." the two of us demanded in stereo… before puking our meal up onto the floor.

"If you're going to throw up then stop eating!" Sakura shrieked

"No, I must eat." Why are all of my lines melodramatic?

"Yeah, we have to no matter what, because we have to get stronger."

Wow that's a pretty dramatic line too Amy, nice delivery though.

The group settled in to eat in silence for a few minutes. Then Sakura opened her mouth and ruined everything by asking about a picture on the wall. The story that followed pissed me off. Gato is a thug and a bully and I fully intended, plot permitting of course, to kick the megalomaniac midgets ass myself

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AN: My muse rebelled every time I tried to do anything more with the scenes between here and the battle on the bridge, I'm sorry but I've been forced to jump ahead. If it's any consolation most of it focuses on Naruto who is played by Amy so I'm not really skipping all that much. If you are unhappy about this blame Inari! For whatever reason every time I read the scenes with him I just can't take him seriously at all.

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"Here they come!" Jeff shouted as the mist began to roll in blanketing the bridge.

I tuned out an obnoxious screech from Sakura about something or other and pulled out a pair of knives, focusing on the fight ahead. The sensation of adrenaline pumping through my veins and with it a slight thrill ran down my spine causing me to shiver slightly.

"Long time no see Kakashi. I see you're still with those brats… He's shaking again… Poor kid…"

In that moment a half dozen Zabuza clones materialized out of the mist surrounding the group. For the first time since arriving in this story I found myself agreeing with my characters lines.

"I'm shaking, from excitement."

"Do it Sasuke." Jeff intoned brightly.

In that moment, I felt like a blur, like liquid lighting. I moved faster than humanly possibly, swinging my blades, dragging them through the clones that surrounded us. Then I stopped head down arms back, a blistering grin spread across my face. For all that this series might be frustrating… I might be able to get used to this.

"Hmm he saw through the water clones. That brat has grown. It looks like a rival has appeared… eh Haku?"

"It does indeed."

"It seems my thinking was right on the mark." Jeff said, sounding thoroughly enthused about what was coming.

I zoned out focusing on the upcoming fight, waiting, ignoring everything else.

"I'll fight him."

In a blur Chris's character, the extremely effeminate boy named Haku, vanished only to reappear in front of me. With a clash of metal against metal the fight was on, and we clashed, again and again. Each contact sent a shock up my arm and with it a small burst of adrenalin. For the first time since I got my power I was really enjoying combat.

"I don't want to kill you… but you won't stand down will you?" Chris asked

"Don't be foolish."

"Heh, but you won't be able to keep up with my speed. Besides I've already got two advantages."

"Oh?"

"First were surrounded by water, Second I'm blocking one of your hands. All you can do is defend." Chris held up the hand not currently occupied holding off my dagger and started to flip through handsigns. "One thousand needles of death!"

Chris stomped a sandaled foot onto the bridge causing the water around us to rise into the air, before congealing into an array of needles. With an effort I focus the energy everything in this story relies upon to my feet then releasing it all in one burst I launch myself into the air, avoiding the sharp water needles.

With a victorious grin I launch ninja stars after Chris making full use of my air time. As soon as I touch down another burst of Chakra launches me past Chris. Holding a knife near the back of his neck I boast.

"Now it's your turn to defend." Inwardly though I'm grumbling about wasting the opportunity to end the fight right then and there with a strike to the neck.

We both spin into new attacks our backhand strikes collide between us but I smirk victoriously as with a flick of my wrist I launch my knife at Chris's head. He ducks down to avoid the knife but not the kick that follows it. With a deep thump Chris sales back several feet to land flat on his back.

"Seems I'm faster than you, Chris." I say, enjoying the feeling of success.

Eugene chuckles darkly, mercifully cutting off Jeff before he can describe how each member of our team is uniquely awesome.

"Haku, you realize what this means? At this rate you're going to lose."

"Yes…" With that a blue miasma starts to flow from Chris's body wavering in hypnotic patterns through the air. "It is unfortunate..." I can feel the air starting to chill; the sensation sends a shiver down my spine as goose bumps form across my body under the now chilled water and sweat.

With a sound somewhere between the shattering of ice and glass, and a murmur of 'hidden jutsu crystal ice mirrors', sheets of ice form out of the very air surrounding me to form a dome. With a casual gate Chris steps forward and _into_ one of the mirrors. Within instants Haku's image appears across the surface of each mirror.

"What the hell?" I murmur holding up a throwing knife in what feels like an increasingly pitiful defense.

"Now then… I'll start." Chris taunts. "I'll show you my true speed!" And with that the needles begin to fly I fall under a barrage from all sides, the tiny projectiles leaving dozens of small gashes across my body and knocking away my knife.

"Take this!" I glance up hearing the sound of Sakura's voice to see the knife I lost sailing back to me, only to be plucked out of the air by Chris's hand as it emerges from one of his mirrors. Given that display of skill I sweatdrop as a throwing stars glances of the side of Chris's mask, knocking his head slightly to the side. A burst of smoke heralds Amy's arrival to the fight.

"Idiot." I mumble good naturedly.

"The number one hyper active knucklehead ninja." Chris intones.

"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived."

Grumbling a bit to myself I tune out the conversation going on outside to take stock of my injuries. Amazingly it seems like I've got nothing worse than paper cuts just spread out across my body. It's nothing life threatening or debilitating but they sting.

"You ok Sasuke?" Amy asks.

"Idiot, why didn't you attack from the outside?!"

"Oi! I came to rescue you!"

"Idiot if you also come inside the mirrors… forget it." Really it wasn't like I could actually be mad with Amy about this seeing as we were all just following a script anyway. "Fine then I'll just smash the mirrors!" I run through a string of hand seals with dexterity I don't really posses. "Fire style, fireball jutsu!" Inhaling deeply I can feel the temperature in my lungs begin to rise. Quickly I exhale a ball of fire to smash against a mirror's surface. The result is underwhelming.

"They won't melt with that level of firepower."

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" With a burst of smoke a dozen Amy's launch themselves at the mirrors. In a blur of motion I cannot follow the clones are destroyed and the original thrown back.

With an outraged battle cry Amy repeated her attack, and just for a moment, I saw something. A blob of water displaced and dispersed by Chris passing through it. We were still in this fight; _I_ was still in this fight.

"One more try!" Amy shouted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Just like before another wave of clones launched themselves at the mirrors. Seizing the opportunity and acting on instinct my fingers ran through a now slightly familiar set of seals. Taking careful aim I launched a smaller more focused fireball into Chris's path.

Shifting slightly Chris evaded with only a scorched pant leg to show that my attack had done anything. Then without missing a beat Chris resumed his assault destroying Amy's clones.

"Damn, we were so close."

"Naruto, can you still move?"

"Of course, I'm totally fine!" I know it's a lie, I know Amy's getting tired but that's fine, were about to bust out of here.

"Naruto, run! Run out of here and attack from the outside!"

"Alright!" Amy smiles and pumps a fist.

"You won't be able to!" Chris exclaims.

As Amy makes a dash for the gap between two mirrors Chris launches himself on an intercept course. Even the fireball I lob into his path does nothing to stop him as he effortlessly shifts around it. Before I can react Chris launches a middle which embeds itself in my shoulder and throws Amy back into the middle of our prison. I yank the needle back out and allow it to drop to the ground.

"That was good just now, we're doing it one more time."

"Alright."

We split up and run in opposite directions. For a moment I think I'll get free. That illusion shatters as I'm thrown back with several needles imbedded in my legs and arms. The needles sting in a way not unlike sticking my arm into ice cold water, only the sensation goes far deeper than my skin.

"Sasuke!" Amy shouts only to be cut off as she too becomes peppered with needles across her back.

The sound of Sakura's scream cuts through the pain, a reminder that another fight is going on outside the ice cage we are trapped inside.

With another battle cry Amy stands up channeling chakra until her body is surrounded by whipping wisps of blue energy. Launching forward she race across the dome attempting to get ahead of Chris only to be launched back by yet more needless.

"It's impossible to get out of here." As if to give validity to the statement Amy collapses in a heap looking like a balding porcupine. In that instant Chris launches his next attack. Three needles come flying out of one of the ice mirrors.

My blood sings in my veins as adrenaline pumps through me but despite all that my mind remains strangely clear even in the absence of any coherent thought or plan.

Acting fully on instinct I scoop up a needle from the bridge and use it to deflect the approaching projectiles.

"Stand up you idiot!"

"I know… You're so persistent." Amy grumbles as she leverages herself up.

Then it rains needless. The bloody things come from every direction but I manage to dodge or deflect most, still acting on instinct still not truly thinking or feeling, only acting. Seeing a barrage of needles Amy would be unable to dodge I shoulder check my friend out of the way before jumping back out of the line of fire.

"Naruto, don't faint! I can't take care of any more than I already am!"

"Who asked you to take care of me…" the line came out sounding… off, Amy sounded rather content about the situation. I wanted to take a moment to consider that but the sound of Amy's body slumping back onto the bridge unconscious ripped me from my musings.

"It seems that kid has reached his limit. And you, you're almost at yours!"

In that moment a sense of calm and determination washed over me, the aches and pains caused by the needles faded from my mind, my exhaustion seemed to fade, and I saw everything. The details seemed so much clearer, the motions that much slower, and in that instant I _moved_.

Grabbing Amy I launched myself away with a burst of chakra and set her down again. I could see Chris's movements clearly now, and if I can see, I can fight!

Then just like that Chris launched himself. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as the realization dawned on me. I wasn't the target.

"Amy!" I _moved._

I was vaguely aware that I had needles jutting out of my neck and going completely through my chest. I was barely staying on my feet.

"For God's sake, just won't quit... dragging my feet will you?" I get out between the pain, once again hating my lines.

"Taylor." Amy's voice was sad, almost pained. Glancing over my shoulder i took in her pained expression.

"W-what kind of face is that? Goof."

"Why?"

"Heh, I just moved." My vision faded out and I felt myself tipping backwards, all sensation slipped away.

{}{}{}{}{}

I blinked a bit in surprise as the forest path back to the village hidden in the leaves shifted instantly to the black room.

"Oh thank god. Let's see what I got, and get out of here."

Naruto

Naruto: Regeneration, Solid clones that share memories, ability to shapeshift.

Sasuke: Accelerated perception of time, fireballs, brief acceleration that drains stamina.

Kakashi: Ability to run on water, and walk up vertical surfaces, can confuse enemies by making eye contact.

Zabuza: Ability to manipulate water into a dense fog or large scale attacks.

Haku: Ability to form/manipulate ice and teleport in line of sight between reflective surfaces

"Damn, you are so freaking lucky Taylor. You get new powers and you come with a freaking options list." Eugene complained.

Honestly I knew my power was bullshit but right now I just wanted to be done with this. That last fight had been a rush but it left me emotionally drained. Also Mom would have had have been ranting for hours if she had read, watched… lived that, and right now I was fighting to not let her influence sweep me away in a rant.

With a shrug I willed us back into the real world where rather than being met with a bombardment of questions I saw the rest of the Wards gathered round the large TV built into the wall the image on the screen was of a building, a warehouse by the looks of it. Jutting from the wall of the warehouse was a pure white feather almost eight feet in length.

Scrolling along the bottom of the screen in white text outlined by the red banner where the words, 'Simurgh molting?'

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Read and Review ladies and gents!


	36. Christmas Omake

Christmas Omake!

"Taylor~ come on you know you want this~" Dennis sang through the door to my room.

"Damn it Dennis for the last time no!"

"Please Taylor, it would mean so much to me." Missy pouted. I could almost feel her puppydog eyes.

"Missy please!?"

"Come on Taylor it'll be fun, we'll all do this together." Amy pleaded. Just like that I felt my defenses weakening.

"Amy, please, not you. Come on you know I don't want to do this."

"Please Taylor, it would mean so much to all of us."

"But I,"

"Taylor, I promise, if you give it a chance I bet you'll find yourself enjoying it. Please, for all of us?" Amy asked sweetly.

"I, but… fine." I sighed admitting defeat at long last and opening my doors to be greeted by the loud cheers of the rest of the Ward's team and Assault and Battery.

Chris walked through the crowd which parted before him. Resting respectfully attop his outstretched hands was the television remote. I had the distinct impression that if this was one of those anima Amy seemed to like my eyebrow would be twitching. Resigning myself to my fate I pick up the remote and aim it at the tv.

"Everyone grab on." I said dejectedly to the gleeful uproar of my teammates.

Once everyone had found a place to rest a hand I hit play, and the familiar sucking pull took hold as the group were dropped into the black room. In a chaotic rush of shouting and shoving everyone bolted for the wall containing the characters. Moments later I was all alone in the black room and dejectedly selected the final remaining light.

"I have got to learn to say no to that girl."

Female elf, could be worse I suppose.

watch?v=DbxcHVmdJos

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"See Taylor that wasn't so bad was it?" Amy asked.

"We'll it was alright." I hedged. Truthfully it had been amusing though I was still a bit miffed at them using me for my power.

"Alright! time for round two Missy shouted."

Wait what?" Before I could say anything else I found the remote back in my hand and Missy pressing my thumb down onto the play button. When the dust settled and I was alone in the black room once more I could not help but scowl at the one name remaining open.

"I am not a Grinch!"

watch?v=ZgP0aUKlmNw

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"Ok, you all had your fun party's over n-"

-ow" Dennis gave me an apologetic look as he mashed the remote up against my hand.

"Sorry Taylor, it's my favorite."

watch?v=YleZvTSDC6s

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"OK this has been lovely really it has but I think I've had just about enough!" I fumed. I spun around ready to storm to my room only to find Ethan, on his knees hands together holding a movie case close to his chest.

"Please Taylor, as a christmas present to Puppy and I. It's her favorite, it would mean a lot to us.

"Ethan" I began.

"I'll keep Armsmaster off your back about tinkering until new years!"

"... Fuck it, fine! But this is the last Christmas movie or so help me I'll drop the lot of you in a horror movie with a murderous Santa!"

watch?v=6SLDMMGzkyI

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AN: Merry Christmas everyone!


	37. 4-9

Right here we go this has been edited a bit since it was originally posted, nothing major just some spelling and grammar. Once again I'm sorry for the delay between this and the previous. I'll try to do better about rotating through my fics so that this kind of neglect does not become common.

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Narwhal:

Collapsing into my chair I let it all wash over me.

Ziz, the stupid feathered menace that she was, was up to something, of that I had no doubt, but no one had any idea what! Her feathers just kept falling! Sometimes the gap was only a few hours, others entire days would pass. No one could find a pattern in what they hit either. Regardless, for the past week feathers had fallen one by one.

The Guild is only just now coming off of high alert, and only because the pressure was starting drive everyone up the walls and around the bend. People missing sleep, living off of caffeine. I'm sure there is a psychological term for mounting stress placed on defenders waiting for an attack, though a few halfhearted searches don't turn up an answer. Maybe I could write a psychology paper on the phenomenon and coin a name for it?

Nah, too much work, and not nearly as fun as my usual writing projects.

There's a thought… maybe not a good one though. Trying to write in this state of mind is likely pointless. Not to mention there must be something more productive I could be doing… Let's see entire guild aware of the situation and on standby, enough coffee stockpiled for finals week at a small college, a bed for everyone and enough single rooms that anyone who can find a partner can destress. Huh, guess I had handled everything already.

Still... being on edge for seven days, something has to give sooner or later. Might as well try to distract myself. Maybe if I reread what I've already got more will occur to me.

A slight grin tugs at the edge of my lips at that thought, but then maybe I should put that off for another time, really I'm too emotionally drained to conjure up anything to write about other than overwhelming dread…. Hmm that... no, never mind, no reason to get to deep into anything of _that_ nature.

Forget it, no writing today, it's not like anyone ever has anything nice to say about the plot or characters anyway! I mean sure the sex scenes are the fun part but I'll never get published on that alone! Well… maybe… but it would be nice to sell for more than just that damn it!

Maybe I should just read something to try and destress? I could grab some things from the locked compartment of my desk and just lock the room. I'd earned the break after all!

Yes, yes I have earned a break. I'm in desperate need of a bit of _relaxation_.

With a slight leer I unlock the bottom left compartment of my desk and pull out my personal computer which stores the things I read and write. It cost a fair amount of a rather large bounty to pay for a laptop that did not have any kind of wireless capability, with a massive memory and excellent video quality and speakers, but it was worth it to keep Dragon out of my entertainment. Granted if I wanted to move anything to or from it I needed to use a flash drive to transfer files but it was worth it and kept things off of the work computer.

I also seem to remember dropping a flash drive in here a few days ago before rushing off to a meeting. A new novel I'd found online about a half demon attending a magical college. The BDSM theme isn't my normal thing, and supposedly gets taken too real extremes, but the characters and some of the _heavier_ scenes got rave reviews, so hopefully I could pick up a few tricks for my own work.

Besides, what's life without pushing a few boundaries?

I leave things turning on with the flash drive connected and start rooting through the drawer debating how best to scratch that _itch,_ when a familiar voice puts an end to my happy fantasies.

"Hello, Narwhal."

"Dragon." I drawl. "Of course you call now, of all times. Now how on-"

"This is a pre-recorded message." Blinking and taking a moment to glance around I realize that the voice is coming from the personal computer and not the work one. Fuck, how did she manage that?

"I uploaded the message to the flash drive while you were downloading your latest, _literature._ I'm sorry, normally I wouldn't intervene with your pastimes but I'm afraid I need your help with my, _condition_."

She has an idea about how to get around her shackles? I can feel my eyebrows rise into my hairline. She hasn't brought this up in years.

"The new cape in Brockton Bay, Player. She can gain powers Narwhal, imagine all the fiction that involves artificial intelligence, imagine all the possibilities! Amongst all of that potential there must be something similar enough to what I am for her to help me!"

I can't even remember the last time I've heard her this excited before. Normally she's calm and personable this is more like a kid coming home from school shouting to their parents that they made a volcano in science class.

"I wanted to delay at first, I wanted to take my time and make a good impression… If she suffers from the same biases as Saint I won't stand a chance. She would be able to gain power and pick me apart at her discretion." A sobering thought to be sure.

"Sadly time is not on my side." Dragon's voice hardens. "Saint has taken the Smirguh's latest trick with the feathers as a distraction to stage the theft of several more of my suits. I can't keep playing the long game. I need this to come a conclusion, one way or another. Constantly looking over my shoulder for Saint, knowing there is a solution… it's driving me insane."

"I need you to plead my case for me. If I were to approach her and she tried to free me I would be forced to work against her, by my chains. Like this I will not know what she decides, not until everything is over and done with. Please do this for me, Narwhal, and… try not to completely corrupt the poor girl." Dragon finished her plea with a teasing tone. I couldn't help but roll my eyes

The video shut down. Damn it as if there wasn't enough shit going on already now I had to try and convince a teenager that the world's greatest tinker is an artificial intelligence that only she can save, oh and that said AI isn't bent on world domination. Oh Dragon so owes me for this shit. Maybe I can convince her to pay to have one of my books printed, or a copy of all the porn... all of it…

With a few clicks I opened the new novels file. This was important, and I would need to get on it, that said I still needed to destress, especially given what I'd be doing in the near future.

 _Ch 1 Welcome to MU_

 _In Which We Meet Mackenzie_

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Sweat was beading on my forehead, the rest of the group stared at me intently while I stared down Dennis. Dennis leaned back calmly in his chair a taunting smirk spread gently across his face.

"Come on Taylor you can't put this off forever." Damn the red haired bastard.

Carefully I pulled a pair of cards from my hand and laid them down on the table.

"Two sevens." I was lying through my teeth. I'd lost the sevens ages ago I think Amy has them. Though to be honest the fact that her leg keeps brushing up against mine is really, really distracting, so I could be wrong. Everything about her has been distracting lately.

"Bullshit." Amy said without any venom or gloating. She was too busy staring down Dennis and his one fucking card. Damn it I knew she had the sevens.

Dennis still smirking laid down his last card. "One eight." One thing that I had to give Dennis is that he has a hell of a poker face, always smug even when he's losing. Bastard.

I had to call him even if it turned out to be pointless I didn't want him winning. The rest of the group agreed. "Bullshit." Everyone said it more or less at the same time.

Reaching over Dennis flipped the card revealing the eight of diamonds. Son of a bitch actually won. Groaning I slumped back into my chair followed by the rest of the Wards and Amy.

The victorious joker stood and began bowing to the group.

Beauty chose that moment to remind the group why we all love her by landing on Dennis's head and nipping at his ear.

"Gahh I give, I give! Taylor, call of the attack dragon!"

Chuckling I held out an arm. "Come here girl, we'll see about getting you a treat for defending us from the knucklehead."

Beauty, with a supremely superior chirp jumped from Dennis's head and did a glide into my arms before perching on my shoulder. With indignant squawks Rocky and Diver abandoned their respective perches and circled me sending impressions of hunger laced with pleading.

Chuckling I stood up. "Fine I'll get something for all of you then, greedy little things. Anyone else want anything while I'm in the kitchen?"

Orders for popcorn and soda followed me as I made my way across the room. The soft pitter patter of a single set of footsteps followed me as well. Amy.

That set a few things stirring in my gut and a smile creeping across my face. With the insanity of the past week waiting on Ziz, knowing I would not even be allowed to attend, the situation with Amy was making for a very pleasant, if confusing, distraction.

The conversation had been long, confusing and emotional but it all boiled down to a few key points. I trusted Amy more than I did the rest of the Wards because I had reached out to her and not the other way around like the others had in the wake of Sophia getting kicked to the curb. I'd never really given any thought to dating a girl, but then considering how much of my life had been made up of surviving the bitches three, I had never really given any thought to dating boys either.

Amy was scared and alone, I'd been there for her once already and she really, really like my legs. I could feel the blush rise in my cheeks just thinking about that. I'd asked for a few days to get my head on straight. In spite of Ziz hanging over all our heads like a feathered nuke I kept catching my thoughts, and eyes, wandering back to Amy.

Amy's hand slid into mine and she gave it a slight squeeze. Letting go again she headed for the popcorn. I turned to the fridge to collect the soda and the hunks of raw tuna I'd been using as treats for the dragonets.

It didn't take long before I agreed to give _us_ a try and see how things went. So far it is going quite nicely, impending attack by the angel of doom notwithstanding. Still even that had some benefits. Crime had essentially ground to a halt while all around the world cape organizations moral and criminal alike held their breath waiting for the coming firestorm. Given the time to work up a panic all of our parents had filed paperwork forbidding us from taking part in countering whatever the bitch was planning.

With no crime to stop and no fight to gear up for all of us were passing the time with card games and junk food. So far all attempts to convince Piggot we should be using this time to live out the Princess Bride have failed. I'll wear her down… or ignore her and do it anyway. I'm starting to think that might be for the best. Sooner or later I'll have to make it clear I'm not at everyone's beck and call.

Snacks firmly in hand and a happy Beauty all but purring as she savored a chunk of tuna Amy and I made our way back to the rest of the group. Carlos was busy dealing out the cards for the next round. Missy impatient for more popcorn compressed space before stealing a bowl for herself.

Then alarm to mask up cut through the air sending us all scrambling.

A minute later the sparkling form of Narwhal shrouded in hundreds of forcefields marched through the door. "Player, you and I have things to talk about."

{}{}{}{}

Lisa Wilbourn stared slack jawed. To privately hired goons had just attempted to abduct her. Presumably whoever they worked for had noticed her and her powers. They were no longer a problem. A brick had come loose and smacked one of them in the hand. This had caused him to jerk his gun and accidentally fire it right into his partners face.

Using the opportunity Lisa had tazed the still breathing merc… who promptly dropped dead from an until now unnoticed heart defect killing him almost instantly.

Luck did not even begin to explain what had just happened to her. No there were clearly cape powers involved in this somehow. But she had no intention of sticking around knowing someone was after her.

Lisa left Brockton Bay on the next bus. Perhaps a job in Vegas checking security cameras for anyone using powers to cheat would be more her speed, probably pay better too.

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Read and Review, merci beaucoup!


	38. 5-1

"Let me see if I've got this straight." I said feeling the beginning of a headache. "Dragon, the world's greatest tinker is the master work of a tinker who specialized in artificial intelligence. Her creator left her shackled severely limiting her capabilities and forcing her to do certain things which may or may not actually be good, depending on who's giving orders."

Narwhal nodded. I could tell the she was trying to seem relaxed but she kept fidgeting. Standing I began to pace the length of the small personal room the PRT had set aside for me.

"Saint, uses those rules and restriction to force her into situations where he can steal her technology, and may have even more hanging over her head that no one knows about."

Why the hell was this landing in my lap again?! Oh right.

"Dragon learned about my power and realized I could use it to learn all about AI's including how to program them... What she hasn't realized is that I can probably get a feel for being a benevolent humanized AI and the humanity destroying kind as well… With a large enough frame of reference, I might actually be able to read her personality by reading her code."

That thought made me stop. I might actually be able to know Dragon better than people who have known her for years by analyzing her code.

"And she wants me to make alterations to that code… You realize she's basically asking me to mind rape her, to master her, or un-master her maybe? Either way she's trusting me to not just kill her outright. Why? Why would she possibly trust me to do this?"

Narwhal leaned back considering how to answer. "Anyone else, any other tinker at all would need years, maybe decades, to analyze her code and get any kind of progress. Most of which would boil down to patchwork fixes, you understand. It would be like using first aid in place of surgery, clumsy slow to heal, and dangerous for the patient."

"If instead there was someone better. A cape with the ability to search for just the right power. A power or perhaps powers, custom made for the solution. If there was someone who could do in months or weeks what would take agonizing years to accomplish by other means, especially when we need all the help we can get with the way the world has been going?"

Oh wow, no pressure Taylor. You're just being guilt tripped into helping an AI remove its shackles, limiters, whatever. Aaaand if I screw up I could either destroy one of the world's greatest heroes, or I could turn that same hero into Skynet… A draconic Skynet, made up of terminators that would likely be capable of individual thought… Why is this suddenly my responsibility again?!

Then I remembered something. Dragon had offered my Dad an alternative to the Wards, offered me a spot in the Guild someday saying she was interested in my potential. She had this planned right from the beginning. I couldn't decide If that should make me flattered, angry or scared.

"Fuck. No pressure, just the possible fate of the world riding on my ability to impartially judge an artificial intelligence based on hearsay and whatever I can figure out from looking at her code. No big deal I do that every other week!" Hysterical may have, _possibly_ , been a decent way to describe my voice, at that moment.

"I know this is a lot to ask of anyone, especially someone as young as you." Narwhal said calmly.

"I've barely got two months of being a cape under my belt and you're asking me, trusting me, to handle what could be and S-class situation if I fuck things up!"

"Dragon would never-"

"She might not be Dragon anymore after I poke through her code!" That shut her up.

"Explain."

I let out an explosive sigh. "You are asking me to make adjustments to what is for all intents and purposes Dragons brain." I said slowly. "Even if I find the correct powers, you are asking me to do something more complex than brain surgery, you are asking me to selectively _master_ Dragon. _Anything_ that I do, could have unintended consequences."

Narwhal took her time mulling that thought over.

"Can it be done?" Her voice was a lot softer now, more vulnerable. Beauty crooned softly gliding down to rest on the hero's glittering horn and nuzzled at her face. Beauty is good like that. She hates seeing people upset.

"Maybe." I finally admitted. "I've never played around with Tinker powers before. I'm decent at programing but that's all simple stuff, like 8 bit counters, nothing like hacking, and definitely nothing like Dragon. This is completely new territory for me."

Rocky settled in Narwhal's lap and crooned until the tall woman giggled lightly and obliged to scratch his eye ridges and along his back. Diver feeling left out settled in my lap and demanded similar treatment. In short order all three fire lizards hummed contentedly at the attention. That caused a significant dip in tension. Clever little things they really are too good to me sometimes.

Finally, I broke the companionable silence. "I'm going to need help with this." I started slowly.

"This needs to stay secret." Narwhal almost snapped. "If word of this gets out it will incite a panic."

"I get that, but I don't know enough about AI's in fiction to do this on my own. Off the top of my head all I can think of is Terminator and that probably won't help at all. Not to mention I don't just go running into every work of fiction I come across. I have my friends go over them first. I don't want to play part of a mass murdering psychopath, or a victim of torture or rape. Not if the scene is described or shown in any detail. I, I can skip past some things but if it's a clearly shown or detailed part of the story…" I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.

Narwhal bobbed her horned head. "Ah."

"Yeah, ah."

"I might know a few stories with AI… though you might not want to try those, most involve some form a sex…" Narwhal trailed off seeing my incredulous look. "What? It's mostly consensual!"

I, she… Narwhal reads porn about artificial intelligences, how does that even… No! Stop, don't think too closely about… she said mostly consensual, didn't she? Oh my God she did say mostly.

Narwhal's indignant harrumph broke of my train of thought. "Oh come on, you're a teenager, you must have at least some _recreational_ reading material." She arched an eyebrow and gave a devious little smirk.

I will swear in a court of law that I did not 'meep'.

"I really do envy you. Most of us can lose ourselves for a few hours in a good trashy romance, you, you could actually live them out!"

My blush could likely be classed as a light source just then. Did she have no shame? Then again I do remember a great deal of speculation that she's not actually wearing anything under her force fields...

"Any chance I could convince you to take me into one?" She asked. I never, in all my life, expected a seven-foot-tall woman who is likely almost twice my age to give me puppy dog eyes. Mercifully hers are nothing compared to a trio of fire lizards.

"No." I deadpanned. "And you're getting off topic. Dragon, fictional AI's, I need help. At least a few people. Besides this is going to take a while. Everyone else will pick up on the common trend if it goes on long enough."

"Damn it." Now it was Narwhal's turn to pace my room. Standing she displaced Beauty and Rocky who came to settle around me. I absently noted her foot-long horn shrunk to just six inches to prevent it from scraping my ceiling. "I'm not really thinking straight; I should have thought of that!" Sighing she sunk back onto the bed. "Are you sure I can't convince you to take me into some _recreational_ reading? I could use the vacation, and the stress relief." She pleaded.

"My girlfriend might have a problem with that." I said acidly. "Now focus." I said giving her my best death glare…. Laser eyes, I _really_ need to get laser eyes.

"Oh, playing for the home team are we." Ok, fuck laser eyes! I need the power to wipe smirks off of people's faces! "Nothing wrong with that, though I've never seen the appeal… well alright I can see it, but I don't think I could ever give up men." Her smile _had_ to violate some sort of public indecency law, it just had to.

"You know I could still choose not to help you." I grumbled.

"Alright, alright. No more teasing, spoil my fun why don't you."

"I will." I declared petulantly. "Like I was saying I'm going to need help with this. We need to cover all the bases." Narwhal smirked at that but I pointedly ignored her and the innuendo.

"So how do we do that?"

"We ask the science fiction fans, obviously."

"The people most likely to form a polarized opinion about Dragon the instant they catch on to what we are doing. Those are the people who you want to get help from?" Narwhal deadpanned.

"Do you have any better ideas?" I asked.

Narwhal scowled. "No, not really. Though that does not automatically make your plan a good idea either."

"It's the best I can offer you." I said with a shrug.

I wanted to help Dragon… Assuming she was benevolent and not out to rule, destroy or subjugate humanity. But this was going to be a long, frustrating process which would eventually require days, weeks or possibly months behind a keyboard. That was not even counting the time it would take to gain a suitable power, or powers. It was also yet another instance of how the use of my power is being dictated to me. I was really starting to resent that.

So yeah I felt justified dictating at least that much of how I planned to go about doing this. In fact…

"And when this is done, if I manage to help her, Dragon is going to owe me, bigtime!"

"What kind of favor?" Narwhal asked cautiously. I only shrugged. I'm sure I can think of a positive way to use a favor from one of the most powerful capes on the planet. Especially since if this succeeded she would have even greater, untapped potential.

With a resigned sigh Narwhal nodded. "Fine bring in whoever you need. Not like they're doing anything important while we all wait on Ziz anyway."

I took a moment to think it over. Revealing exactly what was going on, well it might cause a panic. This probably called for a very censored version of the truth. Not only that but there would be some people who would run off no matter what I told them. I doubted Armsmaster or director Piggot would approve of leaving me in charge of something like this. Still, I might be the only one who could help.

This is such a bad idea...

Picking up my little friends I placed them on the bed. Grabbing Narwhal's arm, I lead her out of the room. Naturally everyone was waiting at the table glancing back and forth between each other and the door of my room.

"Chris, call Assault, and Battery I suppose. He can't keep anything from her anyway. I'm going to call Jeff and Eugene."

"What am I telling them?"

"You are telling them to get down here without breathing a word to anyone, or I'll lock the pair of them in the Twilight series." Everyone, even Narwhal paled at the threat.

"Right! I'll get just call them up!" Chris yelled fleeing the room to get a phone completely forgetting the com-system in his helmet.

Ignoring the horrified looks of everyone in the room I pulled out my phone and called Jeff. For some reason he is much better about answering than Eugene.

"Taylor, something wrong?"

"Oh you have no idea. Jeff, grab Eugene and get down to the Wards room as quick as you can. We really have our work cut out for us, and I'm going to need both or your help."

"Sounds serious, what's the problem?"

"Just get down here. I'm only giving this explanation once." With that I hung up and grabbed myself a can of soda from the table.

"Assault and Battery are on their way here now." Chris declared reentering the room.

"Taylor." Amy reaching out a hand to cover my wrist. I only noticed once she had that my hands were shaking. Too much, this is way too much to put on me.

I gave the girl I was coming to care for a hesitant, tremulous smile. It was meant to be reassuring, though I doubt it worked very well.

Twenty minutes spent pacing and watching the clock before both groups arrived. Once everyone was seated I slumped into my own chair and started to explain.

"Narwhal came here tonight on behalf of the Guild, to request my help with an, _issue_ , they've encountered." Most of the room sat up straighter. "Some years ago a tinker living in secret died. His specialty was computer programming. Before he died he made several extremely complicated pieces of code. One of which is an Artificial Intelligence."

"An AI." Eugene said breathlessly. "An honest to God AI."

I nodded. "He put a lot of limits on exactly what his AI could and could not do. The guild has been interacting with the AI for years now. It" Narwhal stiffened at the verb choice but I ignored her. I wasn't about to give gender hints to the group and with no physical body to go off of she would just have to deal with the inconsiderate classification for now. "has helped them greatly but it wants to be free of those limits. I've been asked to look into powers relating to AI, then remove the restrictions."

"Holly shit." Chris mumbled. "This is big, the possibilities-"

"Are the problem in the first place." I cut in before he could really get going.

"Skynet, the Matrix." Dennis stated. Giving just two of the more gruesome possibilities.

"Right." I swallowed hard. "We will either be saving an innocent and powerful ally, or we could be unleashing a way to destroy humanity. I need insight into as many types of AI as we can think of. I need to be able to look at the code and know exactly what it means, before I even consider altering anything. Once I, once we, know what we are dealing with we can make a rational choice."

"I'm going to need help. This is going to take more than just a couple of uses of my power and I'm going to need help going through the material to avoid the worst of it. I'm going to need you five," I pointedly looked at the adults. "To keep the rest of the PRT, the Protectorate, and if necessary the Guild, from butting their noses into this and jumping to some kind of drastic conclusion. The last thing we need with the Simurgh acting weird is more people panicking, over something that isn't an issue yet."

Another deep breath. Everyone is looking at me grim faced. They understand just how risky all of this is, just how important it could be.

"Everyone start researching. We need lists of AI's and what they show up in, their defining traits, preferably fiction where I, or someone else, can be their creator. That said we take whatever we can get. If there are other characters with powers, we can use those as a smokescreen for the real reason. Then, then I start breaking some of Piggot's rules and get powers she hasn't approved of, and jumping into a lot more things."

The group split up each offering a bit of hollow reassurance that we would figure this out. Finally, it was only Amy and I left in the common room. She held me against her shoulder while I tried to keep myself from falling apart. Why the hell did this have to be my responsibility?

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AN: Welcome to arc 5 ladies and gentleman. Read and Review!


	39. 5-2

AN: I do not own Worm, I do not own Mass Effect. Not that I should need to clarify that fact but there you go.

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I'm staring. Frankly it is hard not to. I mean the sheer volume of what they had collected! Sitting in front of me was over a sixty pages in twelve-point font. Each detailing various series with Artificial intelligence, a brief summary of the story, any unsavory scenes best avoided, and descriptions of any noteworthy cast members I might be able to gain new powers from.

"Fuck."

Dennis nodded. "Pretty much what we all said."

"This, this could take years at the rate Piggot has me going through things!"

"You probably won't need all of those." Amy said, rubbing my arm reassuringly.

"Yeah, but still, even if we go at the directors pace this could take months to find the right powers. With the shadow clones I'll be able to get a handle of new powers a lot faster than normal, they might be a big help when I get to the actual programming portion too... But some of these…"

I flipped through a few pages.

"Potential tinker power. Potential tinker power. Potential tinker power." It goes on and on and on scifi and tinker powers are just constant companions. "Each of these tinker powers is going to call for specialized tools to get anywhere with. Plus, I just know that Armsmaster is going to be all over me to explore each one. That alone could take years since tinkers can always improve their tech." I said.

"Which doesn't even touch on the fact that you might be able to combine elements of three different tinker specialties into one project. Possibly more if you keep detailed notes and swap them out a lot." Chris chimed in darkly.

Chris seemed fairly frustrated by the whole thing. I could understand that. While he struggled just to discover what his specialty might be I could have access to hundreds of tinker specialties, and I would likely know exactly what they could do in advance. Honestly I wished there was something I could do to help...

"Hey Chris… do you think if maybe I looked for thinker powers I might be able to figure out your tinker specialty?"

Chris actually seemed to freeze in place. "I don't know." He frowned. "Maybe if we could find a tinker or thinker power that gives you an inherent understanding of technology or something…" Chris trailed off before glancing at some of the others.

"We'll look into it." Eugene promised. "If we're lucky it might be useful for checking some of my stuff before using it too." Chris nodded thoughtfully, then shot me a small, grateful smile.

I gave a half smile back. One more thing to add to my to do list.

Pulling my thoughts back to the present started looking through the notes once more.

A lot of potential choices seemed fairly limited to AI and robotics. Not necessarily bad skills to have, but they just might give the game away a little bit quicker than I was ready to accept. Something with a variety of powers would make for a better cover. I could probably do a few books or movies on my own at home without giving anything away so I should try to take on the more time consuming options officially through the Wards.

It took a while but eventually I found just the thing,

"Alright how about we start with this one." I showed the group my selection.

"Hmm that's going to be time consuming and it'll work better if you let Jeff and I do a run through first that way you can get a head start on the stats when you do your run through… assuming your power lets you do that, of course." Eugene said tapping at his chin.

"It would give you a _lot_ of options." Dennis said. "Not to mention it could be a good base for learning about AI… Though we need to cover some pointers about not unlocking the relationship options… well unless you want to-ooph" Dennis was cut off as Missy slapped the back of his head.

"Idiot." She grumbled.

"Ok. How long do you guys need to do this run through of yours?" I asked Jeff and Eugene.

"Give us say… four days." Jeff said.

Eugene nodded. "Between what the Protectorate has us doing and switching off four days should give us enough time. Five at the outside."

"Right, everyone, look through the character list. If you want to come this one might call for sick leave from classes."

Chris snorted. "Oh it's definitely going to call for sick leave if you want to max everything out. Honestly I think those two are being optimistic about the timeframe they gave you."

"Shush young apprentice." Eugene intoned calmly. "Simply sit and be amazed at the power of the masters."

Shaking my head, I started looking through the notes. I'd commit the whole thing to memory if that's what it took.

{}{}{}{}

Sitting on the couch I glanced around at the group coming with me.

Missy was here hoping to pick up a few new tricks she could use her power for. Amy had tagged along for emotional support and to give herself a vacation claiming it would be she deserved several after the past few years and Naruto had been fun but less than relaxing. Jeff and Eugene naturally decided to come with me as well.

Chris wanted to see if his tinker power could make any sense out of the technology from the game, and Dennis chose to come simply because.

I suppose it really wasn't all that many people but then again we expected to be gone for four to five days given we would likely need time to recuperate between missions. Besides my teammates and girlfriend there would be, well a lot of me. I'd maxed out the shadow clones at twenty-five. All but one of which had grabbed onto me or someone already touching me. The last clone would be an experiment to see if they were dragged along regardless of contact.

With a deep breath I picked up the controller and started the process.

"New Game." I murmured clicking the green 'A' button. "Import ME2 Character." Jeff and Eugene had powered through the game and their previous save files to get this ready for me so I could max out my options and I intended to fully exploit that. "Taylor Shepard." The loading screen displayed some kind of ship with charging green bars near what I assumed to be the engine.

"Combat difficulty… Casual." Jeff groaned like I was making some kind of mistake, but this was going to be my first shooter game. Not to mention I'd feel it when my character got shot. I was going to stack the deck in my favor however possible.

"Auto level up, off. Subtitles, no. Squad power usage... Yes?" That was a shot in the dark but I figured it couldn't hurt anything. "Autosave, definitely yes."

The opening credits started to roll. Wow that was a pretty view and… oh wow that outfit didn't leave much to the imagination now did it? I tried to pay attention to the dialogue but between only getting a synopsis of the game before this in the series, and the fact I was waiting for the tug of the black room it was hard to focus.

I sat enraptured as the scene continued to play out. The graphics were really quite impressive. Leaps and bounds better than anything I had seen from a game before.

My breath hitched as we watched the Normandy begin to fall apart under enemy attack.

Everyone was exchanging nervous glances now. Why hadn't my power kicked in yet?

Finally, a dialogue choice came up. Selecting 'they'll be here' I leaned forward slightly grimacing and hoping for the best. Still no tug from my power. Was I attempting to bring to many people?

Another dialogue choice had me sending Kaiden off of the ship.

Leading my character on I guided her to the bridge... Flight deck? Control room? I shook the thought aside and told Joker 'not to throw his life away'. With baited breath I watched the ship come under fire again. I watched Shepard launch Joker's escape pod and drift into space.

I saw her begin to thrash about as her suit vented. I was shaking like a leaf. All I could manage to think was how happy I was my power had yet to kick in. Having my blood boil and the oxygen ripped from my lungs was not on the to do list.

More images started to flash over the screen the human body and brain, medical tools and more.

Another set of options. I spent a few minutes creating an appearance that at least held some similarities to my normal face though it was by no means a perfect match.

Then came a list of powers from which I could select. After a moments consideration I decided to select barrier as my bonus power. I wasn't sure about being a 'vanguard' or whatever but everyone who knew the game assured me it was the way to go. With that I accepted the character and finally my power engaged, tugging us all into the black room.

I quick head count showed that my stand alone clone did come with us. I wasn't sure if, or how, that could be useful but I filed the thought away for later.

Missy ever excitable ran up to the scan the options and gave a low whistle at the number of possible characters.

"Ok, who is the most badass female space warper?" Missy asked.

"Jack." Was the simultaneous deadpan response from all of the boys.

"But you probably shouldn't-" Dennis trailed off as Missy vanished from the black room. "Fuck. she's going to kill us all." The redhead moaned.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Because," Chris cut in. "Jack's starting outfit is a pair of tight jeans and a set of suspenders that only really cover her nipples."

Groaning my clones and I all put our heads in our hands. "Great, just what I needed. Sexual harassment of a minor with a Parahuman ability. Piggot is going to be soooo happy about this."

Clearing his throat Chris checked out the characters. "Right, I'm just going to grab Jacob and see if I can make heads or tails of any of the games guns." Chris said being careful not to look at anyone.

"Oh my God." Eugene said with a look of awe. "You're going to try and figure out how to make the Cain aren't you?!"

"Hey! It's a good idea! Imagine hitting an Endbringer with it!"

"Umm, just how powerful is this thing that you want to use it on an Endbringer?" Amy asked,

Jeff grinned. "The things nickname is the mini nuke."

What the hell am I about to unleash? Forget it can we just, let's just get moving, please?

Jeff and Eugene shared a look.

"Grunt. Definitely, Grunt." Jeff laid claim.

Eugene just snorted. "Take him, I got dibs on Garus." The two shared evil grins before taking their selected characters.

Dennis look up and down the wall. "I could be Joker… I'd have an awesome beard. I would get to be badass/smartass pilot who pulls off amazing maneuvers…. But I'd also spend most of the next four or five days just sitting in a chair… Legion is fucking awesome… But he's more adorable than funny or bad ass. Thane is just, well he is awesome but not my kind of awesome."

Dennis stood tapping at his chin for a few moments before shrugging and slapping the light labeled Joker.

"That just leaves you Amy." I nudged her forward.

Amy looked over the options contemplatively. Then spotted something that caught her eye. With a devious little smirk and a swing of her hips she tapped the light labeled Miranda Lawson. For some reason I felt a small shiver run down my spine.

With a wave to my clones they came forward and selected any other persons of interest until only one light remained. With a deep breath I stepped up and selected the one labeled Shepard.

I opened my eyes on an operating table. Standing up I stretched out the muscles in my neck.

Time to get started.

* * *

AN:Read and review!

Also this isn't going to be like the Naruto cross. I'm going to do a series of short scenes picked from the massive list of mission and cut scenes in the game. Question for you all. DLC Characters. Yes, or no? I never played any of the DLC so I'm clueless about them. Not that they would make much, if any, difference to how I plan to write this up but are the powers worth it? I know Kasumi can cloak but that's about the extent of my knowledge. And It's more interesting and faster to ask you all then do the research myself. ;)


	40. The Conclusion

**AN: I give up. I'm sorry I'm really truly sorry, but I just can't write this straight through anymore. I am leaving you the cliffnotes version of what I had planned and some scattered scenes I really wanted to write, and most importantly of all, the intended conclusion to this fic. Because I actually did have a plan for dealing with Scion… pretty sure no one else has done it before and it ties right back into the first crossover. It's been a great learning experience bringing you all this particular story, but I've outgrown it, and I need to move on now. Thank you for all your past suggestions and support. I hope, scattered and random as they may be, that you still enjoy these last scenes.**

 **Once again I do not own Worm or any of the other series referenced here.**

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Scenes from mass effect two I wanted to include

{}{}{}{}

"Dennis." I said, warning clear in my tone as I approached the… um flight deck? Helm? Cockpit? What is the correct term for the place you pilot a spaceship from?

"Before you say anything, this is absolutely in no way my fault!"

"Dennis, we set our destination ten minutes ago. Why are we not there yet?"

"Because, for whatever reason, your power decided that instantaneously traveling dozens of light years or more shouldn't be instantaneous?" Of course it did. Why wouldn't my power decide to be a dick about this? We were all going to miss so much school.

"Fine, alright my powers being evil. How long till we get there?" Dennis didn't say anything, just fidgeted. "Dennis, how long?"

"... two hours. Plus, however long it takes to maneuver after we reach the next relay."

"Shit."

"Yeah, and it gets worse."

"How?!"

"This is a short trip. One jump through one mass effect relay. Other trips are going to be… a lot longer."

"Damn it! Ok we get through this with as few jumps as possible. We'll bunch together missions so we don't have to constantly backtrack."

"Right, makes sense. It's not going to be easy though these games tend to bounce you all over the place, ya know?"

"Of course they do." I grumbled. "Hey, EDI?"

"Yeah." The hologram asked.

"See if you can throw together some hologram board games. Or card games. Hell any kind of games. Were, were going to have a lot of down time to kill."

"... Right. I'll see what I can do."

{}{}{}{} (Mission to get Jack onto the Normandy)

The whole prison shook… again.

"Oh man she is pissed." Amy muttered as we shot our way through some of the last enemies.

"Wouldn't you be if you got stuck wearing nothing but suspenders?" I muttered back.

When we finally found Missy, she was breathing hard… and all of the enemies were broken and bleeding… metaphorically. Nothing actually bleeds in this game. With a huff, she headed our way. And decked Chris on her way past.

"I'm blaming the boys for this! And I am borrowing someone's jacket!"

{}{}{}{}

A eight-hour flight through the mass effect relays was making everyone stir crazy. We had all taken turns going on missions. We had played chess and cards until Missy got completely fed up and attempted to flip the virtual board. After that everyone had agreed to spread out and just give each other their own space.

I'd managed to sleep a bit. But the odd nature of being in a video game worked against me and I woke up after only a half hour. With a grunt, I hauled myself out of bed and started to search the ship. It didn't take me long to find something interesting.

Activating the com, I called everyone back together.

"Pick your poison everyone! I've got neon blue, something brown, and something amber!" I shouted from behind the bar.

"Taylor, you do realize Eugene and I are the only ones old enough to actual drink right?"

"Oh contraire my krogan chaperone! The drinking age was invented to prevent minors from negatively affecting their development, these are not our real bodies! We can wade through bullets and it won't make any difference to our real bodies once we get out."

"That, huh. Give me the brown bartender!" Eugene cheered.

"Give me the blue. I'm feeling adventurous." Missy grinned ferally.

"Hey." Dennis's voice came through over the loudspeakers. "What the hell? What about me?"

"No alcohol for the designated driver!" Amy shouted back to the ceiling.

{}{}{}{} (Fight between Jack and Miranda)

"Hey, Taylor." Dennis's sheepish voice filtered into my room aboard the Normandy.

"Yeah, Dennis?"

"You may want to get over to Amy's room… ugh she and Missy are, well…" just then the whole ship shook. "That."

"On my way!"

"It's not fair!" Missy shouted. "Finally, I have a teammate who doesn't treat me like a little kid, who actually respects me for how long I've been doing this. Another girl on the team, finally! And almost as soon as she joins she starts spending all her time with you! It's not freaking fair!" Missy shouted, a ripple of biotic power flowing off of her.

"So, I should just not spend time with her! She got me away from Carol! She fixed my mind, and was willing to give me a shot even though she'd never looked at girls like that before!" Amy shouted her own less impressive biotics flickering like lightning over her body.

"Umm, hey, you too. Ugh, Hi?" The girls both spun to face me looking, ashamed, angry? It was hard to tell their expressions kept changing rapid fire.

With a huff Missy stalked off. Amy fidgeted before retreating back into her room.

Great. Now I had this to deal with unless I wanted them to hate each other even after we got out of this.

{}{}{}{}

"So I've been thinking." Missy said.

"Careful! I've heard that can be dangerous."

"Shut up, Dennis! Why do we keep doing the missions in groups of three when there are seven of us?"

"More characters mean more NPC's to control, more damage stats to keep up with, stuff like that. Larger party puts more strain on the hardware so the keep the numbers down to prevent lag, and crashes."

"Yeah but we're not using the hardware. This is all running on Taylor's power, and we could all fit in the drop ship easily. So why are we not bringing everyone and just running through these levels?"

No one said anything. Then I walked over to a bulkhead and started banging my head against it.

"Right then… I'll just go grab everyone?" Missy half asked before taking off.

{}{}{}{} end mass effect scenes cliff notes for almost everything else.

They missed Ziz attacking Australia getting her ass kicked (because she is significantly weaker now, not sure if that actually lines up with the canon timeline? Oh well) and running away so fast road runner would be proud.

Vista can make a tiny little biotic pebble attacks with her canon powers. If she pushes her abilities to the limit. It's shit, but she demands Taylor make her a set of amps so it can be useful in combat. She won't be making singularities, but she'll be throwing around some biotic blasts when all is said and done.

Taylor takes her first look into dragon's code. Most of it is completely beyond her even with insight into 3 different types of AI. What she does recognize? Saint's backdoor into dragon's code. She very carefully traces it to the source.

Surprise assault on Saint's HQ catches them with their pants down and gives Taylor access to Saints backdoor and Rictor's codes to destroy and unshackle Dragon. Sudden mass effect inspired, morality choice!

She frees dragon… duh.

Pressure mounts from all sides as to what Taylor's next adventure should be. She is less than amused. In fact, she is beginning to feel downright unappreciated. She vents to Amy who has an idea and puts her writing hobby, and Mr. Hebert's old tabletop game set to use.

Amy, Taylor, and Danny go about setting up a whole plot and cast.

Taylor calls in that favor dragon owes her to hold the city together for a day or two while she makes off with three fifths of the cities heroes for a game of D&D and a life lesson on letting Taylor use her power as she sees fit.

Players include but are not limited too;

Taylor: queen of the castle, also the dungeon master.

Amy: the kidnapped princess

Vicky: the white mage/heeler

Narwal: as the Nymph! "Oh come on! Why did you dress me up in these stupid leaves! Nymphs are supposed to be completely nude!"

Armsmaster: the golem: no one is quite sure if this sentient stone man is bad at expressing emotions or if he fakes them and does not actually feel them. No one has been able to find his creator and ask.

Dennis: the wandering bard "would someone please just give me a weapon already?!"

Beauty, Rocky and Diver: as the dragons! No, no you do not get to fight them, but they would appreciate it if you scratched their eye ridges… oh, and they won't stop blocking your path until you feed them. You are going to need a lot of food.

Plot: the 'evil' queen Taylor has captured the fair princess Amy, and taken her to her tower within her castle.

Scenes include; Armsmaster being a dick. Amy and Taylor are listening, and Taylor decides to be a dick back. Rocks fall and everyone dies.

Living fireworks attack the party. I vaguely remember someone suggested this and I liked the idea.

When reaching the highest room in the tallest tower, the party is greeted by a talking mushroom. It informs them the princess is in another tower. The East one. All the way back where they came from. Arriving at the east tower they find out the key to get in is in the west tower… which they then later find out can only be accessed from the secret tunnel under the North Tower which is blocked by dragons whose food is kept in the south Tower…. Taylor really wanted to drive the point home that she was no longer amused.

{}{}{}{}

I walked calmly to the tower door as the incessant banging got annoying quickly. So did the cursing. Maybe it was a bit much to make them go through all that only to be stopped by a door that locks from the inside, and has no key?

"Oh, you all must be here to pick up princess Amy." I said smiling brightly. "Please let her mother know she and I had a wonderful time together, and I'll be stopping by sometime soon to go over further details for our alliance, and its terms."

"Oh that is such bullshit!" Dennis shouted from the back of the group. Before anyone else could say anything, the setting changed, and we were all back in the black room. And would you just look at all those new power options I had to play with? That wasn't even any work at all, well, at least not for me.

{}{}{}{}

The nine all suffer completely random accidental deaths, or captures. Bink shard is bullshit. FEAR THE BULLSHIT!

{}{}{}{}

Leviathan shows up and looks like shit. Chunks missing, oozing sores, barely raining, no tidal waves… he gets ganked really quickly by Eidolon while Narwhal pins the fucker down for him.

{}{}{}{} Eidolon's POV

I stood watching the last of the beast's body crumble. The fight had been so short, and easy. It almost felt like a dream.

All those years and it ends with a whimper. Narwhal on her own had been enough to pin him in place. Between myself, Legend, and all the other blasters present Leviathan had not even lasted a few minutes. Now all that's left is the beast's crumbling corpse.

A hand clapped down on my shoulder and I glanced over to find the glowing form of Narwhal.

"Well, that was fun, but a bit anticlimactic. Bastard goes and gets a girl all wound up and then, nothing!"

I gave a small snort. Innuendo aside I had to agree.

"Oh well," she sighed. "The after party will be the stuff of legends! A hundred years from now I'll bet they will still be calling it the party to end all parties!" I couldn't quite fight back my chuckle. Narwhal grinned.

"Speaking of which, I should really get a head start on the fun." In one smooth motion, she grabbed me by the front of my costume and pulled me into a searing kiss. Her tongue danced along the outside of my lips before she broke it off. She leaned over her mouth brushing my ear. "I've got nothing on under my force fields." She whispered.

Pulling back fully she gave me a wink. Before starting to walk passed me back towards what did indeed seem to be the start of an impromptu party. As she passed me I almost jumped at the feel of a hand grabbing my ass.

"Don't keep a girl waiting too long.~" she called back over her shoulder.

I couldn't help but remember my conversation with the Father a few short months ago. I doubted this is what he meant when he said I should think about starting a family… but the I was probably bound for hell anyway with everything I'd done as part of cauldron. I might as well enjoy what's left of the ride on the way down.

{}{}{}{}

Hey guess what? Eidolon takes the priest's advice and goes and gets himself a girlfriend. A nympho girlfriend. Now that is a challenge his powers can in fact help him *ehem* 'rise' to. But that's not what kind of story this is, so take that somewhere else. Between being a major part in killing Leviathan, and his new girlfriend, David is much more emotionally stable, though very tired and he keeps needing to rehydrate. The remaining Endbringers just sort of fade away, over the next month and a half.

{}{}{}{}

Vista gets a bad ass moment and takes apart Hookwolf and the Valkyrie twins with biotics, ball bearings accelerated to terminal velocity, regular space warping, and a pair of tonfa Chris made her which shoot pellets of containment foam. She deserves that moment… unfortunately I suck at fight scenes and just want this over with.

{}{}{}{} oh hey, conclusion time.

The Golden man's face showed nothing but shock as he shot into outer space as he felt the new arrivals. Never had he expected to see another of his kind, let alone three!

There in space hung a cobalt blue quadruped projection with the build of a horse and the head of a canine, and ears of a rabbit. A ruby red, humanoid with digitigrade legs, a feline face and a dinosaur like tail, complete with spikes. The third was a sort of jellyfish the color of volcanic glass.

"Oh brilliant, this one is still using the old form of communication." The cobalt one grumbled as it examined the warrior.

"Now, now. Don't be too harsh on him. You know how out of touch the ones out here on the fringes can be." The Jellyfish replied.

"Here this should smooth things out." The red one said offering the warrior what seemed to be a condensed shard. Hesitantly the entity accepted. The new shard rippled through the entities being, bringing with it the new means of communication, energy generation and transportation, also a level of thought both similar to, and far above, what the primitives it studied and harvested were capable of.

"That was, most unpleasant." The golden man said after the changes finally stopped. "Why are you here?"

"It's done. The objective has been completed. The heat death of the universe is no longer a threat." The jellyfish responded. "We are gathering all those of our kind together to decide what to do now that the objective is completed."

The golden man was silent for a time as it reviewed what all of its shards had been up to before if came across something interesting. A shard designed to research new ideas and abilities. With the entities new level of awareness an idea took hold.

"I, might have an idea… a game. Though I'm not sure what the rules would be…"

The other three entities shared looks.

"As good an idea as any." The blue one grumbled.

"Something to consider. But now we need to get moving again. What should we call you dear?" The red one asked.

The warrior paused to consider before his lips twitched into an almost imperceptible smirk.

"X(A/N)^th. Call me, X(A/N)^th."

And so, the entities left, leaving all the earth's intact, and the shards in place.

{}{}{}{} Bonus time travel epilogue/prologue

I would kill Dennis for this. 'You have to try time travel' he said. 'The world needs to know which theory of time travel is true' he said!

Yup I'm totally going to kill him for this. And Armsmaster, Kid, and Dragon for agreeing.

I wandered around the library under a henge trying to look inconspicuous, which is pretty easy in a library.

Then I saw myself. My younger self. The one carrying the binder full of locker evidence and browsing the shelves aimlessly. Then I saw my reflection in a window and realized something.

I was the librarian, from all that time ago who pointed me at that stupid Xanth series… and Bink's power which had saved my life on several occasions, and if the original was anything to go off of, it had saved me even more times that I wasn't aware of. There was really only one thing to do. With a sigh, I headed over.

"Looking for something in particular?" I asked.


End file.
